Professor Layton and the Time Device
by Charlie Big Nose
Summary: Sequel to Professor Layton and the Mishaps of Mystery but the storylines are not directly related. A visitor with an eerily familiar face - or three - reveals how life for the professor, Emmy and Flora will never be the same again. May contain Spoilers for all the games and Mishaps of Mystery. Unable to update for a few more weeks.
1. Prologue - It's time - again

Prologue – It's time - again

The professor was sat at his desk, marking papers as usual. He had been in this job for over twenty five years now, and knew exactly what he was doing. Tick, tick, comment, next paper. The professor continued on like this until he heard his wife and son enter the office.

Emmy beamed at him as she sat down on the sofa with their son, Alfendi in tow. "Nearly finished?" she asked.

"Almost," the professor replied, scribbling one last comment on the end of the paper in front of him.

Emmy cleared her throat. "Er… do you know what day it is, Hershel?"

"Tuesday," the professor replied.

"The date?"

"15th May, 2029," the professor replied. Then he stopped. "Ah… I remember." He suddenly looked quite anxious.

"What is it, mother?" Alfendi asked.

Emmy sighed. "We have to go on a mission. All of us. And it starts today."

"We never told you about this particular adventure, did we my boy?" the professor smiled, turning around to face his son.

"No. I want to hear!" he said enthusiastically.

"Alright," the professor smiled. "Well, it will really begin today, with what your mother and I am about to do, but really, it all began fifteen years ago…"


	2. The Weirdest of Meetings

Chapter 1 – The Weirdest of Meetings

Emmy sighed contentedly. To her, there was nothing as comfortable or as comforting as a nice hot bath. Her eyes shut, lying back in the warm, bubbly water, she felt totally relaxed, for a change. Her boyfriend was due home from his lecture any minute and Flora was sitting in her room studying. As usual. All was well in their house. As least, as far as anyone else knew.

But Emmy was still scared after her ordeal eleven months ago with the Grounds of Rebirth. It was only then that she discovered how frightening that the freedom of the press could really be, along with the influence of social networking sites. She remembered how she had been the centre of attention for months on end, every single headline reading how she was depressed and vulnerable and unable to cope with the stresses of life. And worst thing about it was that they were right. Well, at the time they were. And as for the social networking sites, well that was what annoyed Emmy the most. Some of the messages boosted Emmy's spirits, like the ones which said that they admired her bravery and how she was coping and that they wished her a speedy recovery from her ordeal. They were nice to begin with. But there were some which were chastising. Some of which read that they knew that she was on Vaughan's side and that she deserved to go to prison, just like him, some that read that people thought that the whole fiasco was probably some sort of publicity stunt, like the rest of Professor Layton's 'adventures'. It was after these started coming in that Emmy decided to delete all her accounts on the internet and finish with technology forever.

But what stressed Emmy out the most were the constant nightmares, and the fact that she didn't even know why she was having them anymore. She had been to visit her father a few weeks ago, and all was well there. He had apologised for his treatment of her, both as a child and after she left London and she had forgiven him. He promised never to hurt her like that again, and this time, she really believed him. And yet, every night in her dreams, he continued to do so.

Emmy didn't want to worry the professor with such silly little nightmares. He had enough on his plate as it was; what with the press attention he had been receiving himself, and work and Flora and everything else. And yet, after it had been established that Emmy was 'better', they had been growing distant from each other. Work had taken over their lives once more, along with everyday life. Everything was always the same, day in, day out. They never had time for themselves.

And she hadn't seen much of her uncle either, and when she had finally plucked up the courage to talk about it to him, he merely replied that it was 'probably for the best'. He always looked so guilty whenever he was around her, despite her telling him that she had forgiven him, and that everything he had ever done for her in the past ultimately outweighed the terrible things he had done, at least in her mind. But it changed nothing.

All of these problems were weighing down on Emmy's mind and causing her more stress than she liked. And the fact that she felt that she couldn't talk them through to anyone made it worse. This was why a sudden intrusion on these painful, stressful thoughts was welcomed by Emmy, as the doorbell sounded.

"I'll get it!" came a call from the hallway as Flora bounded down the stairs.

"_I suppose this is my cue to return to the real world,"_ Emmy thought, getting out of the bath and grabbing a towel from the rack. _"I expect that's Hershel."_

* * *

Flora opened the door to indeed see the professor standing there. But it was the people standing behind him that shocked her. Emmy was stood behind him with a nervous smile on her face. The other people were a tall teenage boy of around Flora and Luke's age, who was grinning from ear to ear, and Bronev.

"Uh..." Flora trailed off._"I could have sworn that Emmy was in the bath,"_ she thought, confused.

That was when she noticed something different about the professor. He looked... dare she think it... older than he did this morning. His hair was greying and he had more lines around his eyes than she remembered, as did Emmy. It seemed as though they had aged a good ten years since she last saw them. Only Bronev looked the same, and he was the first to speak.

"Is the professor or Emmeline here, my dear girl?" he asked. Flora could tell by his tone of voice that he seemed tense, as though he was speaking about something terribly awkward.

"Uh... well... uh... I'm not sure anymore," Flora confessed.

Bronev smiled. "As much as they look like them, these people are not the professor and Emmeline that you know. It is a very complicated situation. Where was the last place that you saw Emmeline?"

"She's in the bath," the Emmy-look-alike-person piped up. "I remember."

This comment took Flora aback completely. She took a step backwards, unable to believe her ears. _"How the hell does she know this?"_ she thought awestruck.

"Why don't you go and get her while we all get seated in the kitchen?" the professor-look-alike-person suggested.

"Uh... okay," Flora said nervously, turning away and running back upstairs. _"This is too weird for me,"_ she thought.

The boy smiled widely. "Is that Flora?" he asked, grinning.

"Yes, it is," the Emmy-look-a-like replied.

"I can't believe how small she used to be!"

* * *

Flora knocked on the bathroom door. Emmy opened it, dressed in a fuzzy yellow dressing gown and a pair of matching slippers. She noticed Flora's confused expression and frowned. "Is everything alright, Flora?" she asked.

"There are these people at the door, and I think I know who they are, but then again, I don't, and I'm really confused, and Bronev is there too, and he said that it's a really complicated situation and he needs you there and the professor too—"

"Whoa, slow down!" Emmy laughed. "Uncle Leon is there?"

"Yeah. They're in the kitchen."

"Well then let's go and sort this out," Emmy said firmly, taking Flora's hand and leading the way back downstairs.

When they entered the kitchen Emmy stopped, awestruck by what she was seeing. Another Emmy and the professor sat at the table with a weirdly familiar-looking boy and her uncle, who was grinning at her awestruck expression. In fact, it looked like they were all laughing at her reaction.

"Wh... what the fuck?" Emmy whispered. "Who the hell are you?"

The boy tutted. "And you always told me not to swear, mother," he scolded. "Shame on you."

"And who are you?" Emmy rounded on him.

"Ah," he said, turning to the Emmy-type person and suddenly looking sheepish. "Well..."

"Is someone going to tell me what's going on? Uncle Leon, tell me what's going on!"

"Why don't you sit down, my dear?" he smiled.

"Just tell me," she said in a pained voice, looking exasperated.

"Alright. I went to visit our dear friend Doctor Folley, and apparently, these people came down from her attic. They claim to be your, and Layton's, future selves. Make of that what you will."

"Uh... I'm really sorry if I sound rude here, but can you go back up into Doctor Folley's attic? 'Cause you guys are kind of weirding me out," Flora said anxiously.

The three of them laughed.

"Same old Flora," the boy grinned.

Flora turned to him. "You still haven't explained who you are. You don't look like Luke and hopefully I never had a sex change, so..."

"... That only leaves one scenario," the boy finished. He held out his hand to her. "My name is Alfendi Layton, son of Hershel Layton and Emmeline Altava Bronev, your foster brother." He smiled at Bronev. "Make of that what you will."

"Brother...?" Flora looked quizzically at Emmy, who looked horrified.

"I'm going to have a baby?" she asked faintly.

"Ah," Bronev said. "I assumed as much."

"I'm gonna be a big sister?" Flora asked gleefully. "I always wanted a baby brother!"

"Never mind that, I'm going to have a baby!" Emmy cried.

"And I'm going to be a granddad," Bronev smiled.

"And Luke's gonna be an uncle!" Flora grinned. "And the professor's gonna be a Daddy again!"

"And you're gonna be a Mummy," Alfendi sneered, pointing at Emmy. "My Mummy."

Emmy looked terrified. "I think I'm gonna cry."

"I always did have that effect on people," he smiled.

"I... when is this going to happen? How?"

"Well..." Alfendi scratched his chin and gave Emmy a coy look. "You obviously love my father very much, so one night you—"

"I know _how_ it happened; it's just... well..."

"You're in shock," the other Emmy finished. "I remember the feeling. But you don't have to worry."

"When am I having the baby?" Emmy whispered.

"In about nine month's time," the Layton look-a-like replied. "Though I may have to warn you that my younger self may be in quite a shock himself."

"He's not the one who has to have it," Emmy groaned. "Wait... I'm... I'M PREGNANT?!"

The two laughed again. The other Emmy checked her watch. She turned to Emmy.

"Try not to look so shocked, your Hershel will be here any second."

And sure enough, they heard the front door open.

"Sit down, you three," the other Layton requested, pointing at the remaining two chairs and getting up from his. They had all sat down when they heard the professor call out to them.

"Emmy? Flora? Is anyone home?"

"In here!" Emmy called out in a strangely high voice. She was still in shock.

The professor entered the kitchen in shock. "Emmy, are you alright? You sound a little—"

He stopped and looked at the current guests.

"Hello," Alfendi grinned cheekily. "There's a face I've seen before." He winked at his father.

"Shh!" the other Emmy scolded.

"It appears that we have quite a bit of explaining to do," the other Layton smiled.

Alfendi stood up again and offered his seat to Layton. "Sit down Dad. You look like you need to."

"Dad?" the professor muttered, sitting down. Now he looked even more confused. He glanced over at Emmy, who looked as though she was struggling to take something in. He looked at Bronev, who was still grinning. He then looked at Flora, who was looking from the other Layton to the other Emmy to Alphendi and frowning as she did so.

The professor cleared his throat. "So, what exactly is going on here?"

"We're from the future," Alfendi replied. "He's your older self," he pointed at the other Layton, "she's Emmy's older self," he pointed at his mother, "and I'm your son. We're from fifteen years in the future, and we've come to tell you of a mystery that you and Emmy here have to solve in order for your future to be sealed. I don't really understand this part, so I'll let Dad continue."

"Very well," the other Layton smiled at his son. "We've come here from fifteen years in the future in a prototype time machine that was invented by Claire and her father."

"Claire?" the professor asked. "But..."

"This prototype was invented before her death. She and her father did an in-depth study of a method of time travel that had already been discarded by the department of poly-dimensional physics. The department were positive that the use of movement through wormholes was the best method to travel through time, but Claire and her father knew that it would be impossible to select your own destination. So, Claire and her father used another method."

"Another method?" the professor asked. "But... Claire never mentioned this to me, and she was always keen to talk about her work."

"I'm getting to that. There are four methods of time travel; movement through wormholes, like the way that Dimitri Allen wanted to, using curvature in space-time, which was ruled out by the laws of space-time relativity, faster-than-light time travel, which is to this day being studied by poly-dimensional researchers in Sweden, and, of course Claire' father's method."

"But she never told me about it," the professor said. "She told me that her father was a physics enthusiast, but she never mentioned that they built a fully-functional time machine together."

"That is because they didn't think that it worked," the other Layton explained. "They tested it out, but they couldn't establish any movement between periods of time. But they did achieve something that they didn't know of. They had established a connection between their present and the future. So, theoretically, they opened up our porthole to your time, which is how we got here."

"So, you can travel here to us, but we can't travel to the future?" the professor asked.

"Precisely," the other professor smiled.

"And I do remember Claire mentioning a failed prototype. That must be the machine you used to get here."

"Indeed."

"But... if the machine can't travel from our present to the future... doesn't that mean that you three are stuck?" Emmy asked, smiling.

"Yes. Which is where you all come in," the other Emmy said. "we need you to get in touch with Dimitri Allen and get him to take a look. He has other theories himself that will enable your time machine to travel to the future and get us home."

"So, why did you all come here in the first place if you were only going to get stuck?" Flora asked.

"A very good question, Flora, to which the answer is a very complicated one. You see, we already experienced this entire scenario fifteen years ago, when I was your professor and Emmy here was your Emmy, if you get my drift. Our older selves came back in time and had us solve this mystery, and now the time has come for us to pass the mystery on to our younger selves, and n fifteen years time, they will have to pass it on to their younger selves, and so on and so forth. This must happen in order to keep a balance in the space-time continuum and prevent a paradox, or the end of the world."

"Wow," Flora whispered. "But... I have one more question. This whole situation seems very familiar to me. How do I know that you're not just some imposter pretending to be the professor, and that these two aren't just pretending to be Emmy and the professor's son? Because last time, Luke's future self just turned out to be Clive..."

"Well then, to get rid of any doubts you all may have, I believe a test is in order," Alfendi smiled. "My Mum and Dad are bound to know things about your Emmy and Hershel that only they would know. So I think that they ought to ask them a few questions, to authenticate their identity. And because I'm their son, if they are the genuine article, that means I am too. Eh, Dad?"

"I believe your logic is sound, my boy," the other Layton smiled. He turned to Emmy and the professor. "Ask us anything."

The professor thought for a moment. "What is my mother's maiden name?"

"Well, if you're referring to our adopted mother, Lucille, then I believe her maiden name is Jenkins, but if you are referring to our birth mother, Rachel, then I believe her maiden name was Winters. Am I correct?"

"Er... indeed you are." The professor frowned.

"What about me, Emmy?" the other Emmy smiled.

"I have a question for you," Flora interrupted. "what colour pen do I have in my pocket?"

The professor smiled at her.

"Well, I believe Luke told me about this little test before. It was in the facsimile future London, up in the towering pagoda, when Don Paolo was disguised as the professor and was testing the 'future professor' who turned out to be Dimitri Allen. He asked what colour pen there was in his pocket, he explained that if he had forgotten what the colour was, then he would have lost an entire portion of his memory, which would have destroyed his entire persona. And it turned out that there was no pen in his pocket at all. Is that the test you set out to me?"

"Uh... yeah..." Flora said; a small smile on her face.

"But that is not the case this time. In fact there are two pens in your pocket, one red and one blue, which you were using to do your accounting homework before you answered the door to us."

"Okay..." Flora suddenly looked quite scared.

The other Emmy smiled and turned to her younger counterpart. "Now, Emmy, is there anything you would like to ask me? To authenticate my identity?"

"No, no, it's okay, I believe you now," Emmy stammered.

"Yeah, me too," Flora agreed.

The other Emmy turned to her husband, caught his eye and grinned. "Well, I believe that clears things up nicely."

"So... you remembered those facts about Flora and the pens and the homework purely on the basis that your future self said it to you fifteen years ago?" the professor asked.

"Yes," the other Layton smiled. "Not one of us actually witnessed this with our own two eyes, but we merely depended on the events of fifteen years ago to have provided us with the truth. This is what is called an anomaly of events, a chain of events that have happened and are known of by people who did not actually witness it but were told by themselves of another period and had to tell themselves later on. This whole scenario that we are in now is an anomaly of events. This is the first time in your history that it had happened, and it will happen again in fifteen years, exactly like this. And there are others which will occur later on, but I'm afraid we are not allowed to tell you at this point in time, as it will alter the course of history, which could very well threaten our very existence. Do you understand?"

"Kind of..." Flora frowned, trying to understand it all. "Thinking about all this is giving me a headache. This s so complicated!"

"Yeah, it is," Emmy agreed.

"Well, hopefully, you'll all get your heads around it soon," the other Emmy smiled.

"And how is Luke going to react to all this?" Emmy asked. "He's coming tomorrow."

"Well, we'll see when it happens, won't we?" the other Layton smiled.

"Oh, and Layton – our Layton that is - I think you ought to know that Emmeline – our Emmeline – is pregnant. I thought that I ought to give you a heads up."

"I... what? WHAT?!" he demanded.

Emmy gave him a weary look as everyone else laughed.

"I know," Emmy said, looking terrified again. "I'm going to have a baby! In nine months! OH MY GOD, I STILL CAN'T BELIEVE I'M GOING TO HAVE A BABY!"


	3. A Meeting with Dimitri

Chapter 2 – A Meeting with Dimitri

While their future selves and son were in the kitchen helping themselves to some tea before they were due to talk with Dimitri in prison about the time device, Emmy and the professor were sat in the living room, trying in vain to take in their big news.

"I'm pregnant..." Emmy whispered. "I still can't believe it Hershel." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"I know; it's all very unexpected, isn't it?" he smiled, stroking her hair. If he were to say that he was unhappy with this scenario, he would have been lying. In truth, he was overjoyed to have a son to continue his legacy, his very own little gentleman to carry on after him. He had always wanted children; it was very high up in his list of plans with Claire, after getting married, of course. He already had a wonderful little girl, and now he was going to have a little boy too. He beamed at Emmy. He noticed her terrified expression and gave her a squeeze. "You don't have to worry, my dear," he whispered. "You'll be a wonderful mother. You're a natural when it comes to handling Luke and Flora, and you've got me. We'll be fine."

"It's not that I'm worried about," Emmy sighed. "And I'm not worried about losing it, because, well, Alfendi is in the kitchen fifteen years in the future, but..."

"But?"

"Well... it's going to hurt, isn't it? Childbirth? I heard it's the second most painful thing after a heart attack." Emmy looked down at her feet. "You must think I'm being stupid."

"No, dear." The professor smiled at her. "I know that you of all people will be able to handle it. You've taken many a beating before, and you've been fine."

"Yeah, but this is supposed to be different." Emmy sighed again. "I'm really sorry, Hershel, but you just don't understand."

The professor sighed too. "Well, I may not understand, but all I can say is that I promise to be there at the birth, holding you, comforting you, until the whole ordeal is over. I promise."

"Oh, Hershel..." Emmy smiled. She held him tighter. "I'm sorry. I'm glad that I've got you. Any baby would be lucky to have you as a father." She kissed his mouth and hugged him tighter.

"Just so long as they have you as a mother," the professor replied, kissing her back. "We can do this. I know we can."

* * *

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Alfendi was still laughing about Emmy's reaction.

"My God, did you see her face?! It was the end of the world, I tell you!" he laughed.

"Well, you can hardly blame her for that. You know she's scared of pushing your fat head out, and she has every right to be," the other Emmy scolded. "Twelve hours in labour for you to laugh at me every chance you get. You ought to be ashamed."

"Please, you two, we really do have better things to discuss," the other Layton said, exasperated. "We have a few things to clear up before they set out to see Dimitri. Alfendi, my boy, will you go out to the living room and fetch our younger counterparts? I'm sure that they're finished their little heart-to-heart by now."

"Yes, father," Alfendi replied, getting up and heading out the door.

"What things do we have to clear up, uh, Professor?" Flora asked.

"Well, that's one thing we have to sort out; what you're going to call us. You can't really call us 'professor and Emmy' as there are two of each of us, and it would get highly confusing."

"Yeah. And I don't think Emmy would really take too kindly to being called 'little Emmy' either, you know," Flora added.

Bronev laughed. "Yes, me neither, actually. She hates being made out to be small. You know, I think we ought to call the future Emmeline by her full name, Emmeline, and our Emmeline 'Emmy' like you normally do, and that's how we'll distinguish between you two. But as for Layton here..."

"We could always call him 'Mr. Layton'?" Flora suggested.

"Please, anything but that. I would resent being called Mr. Layton by my own daughter, you know."

"What did we call you last time?" Emmeline asked. "Didn't we just call you Hershel?"

"Er... no. That was... well..." he leaned in towards her and whispered, "The other one."

"Oh, yeah," Emmeline replied, clearing her throat. "We just called you Layton?"

"I think so," Layton replied.

Alfendi returned with Emmy and the professor at his heels. Bronev turned to Emmy.

"We've decided to call your older self Emmeline and the older Layton is just Layton. Is that alright?"

"Yes, okay," Emmy replied, sitting beside her older self.

"Well, that's one thing cleared up," Layton said. "But there a few more things I'd like to clarify before we go ahead and begin our investigation of this time machine."

"Oh?" the professor asked.

"No one, under any circumstances, must ask questions about what is going to happen. Otherwise, the consequences may be disastrous. Do you all understand?"

They all nodded.

"We have already told you all as much as we're allowed to about this case. The rest, I'm afraid, is up to you to figure out on your own. The reason for this is because our older selves did not tell us any more than what we have told you fifteen years ago, and so therefore, we cannot tell you any more. Does everyone understand this?"

Everyone else nodded again.

"Good."

"So, who's going to see Dimitri? Because I doubt we'd get away with walking around with our older counterparts without anyone noticing, especially since everyone in London knows who we are," Emmy pointed out.

"An excellent point," Layton agreed, "which is why last time, I went alone, with Bronev. So therefore, you have to go with him." He was referring to his younger self.

"And the rest of us?" Emmy asked.

"Well, what do you think you should do?" Emmeline asked her.

"Well... I think that Celeste may be in a bit of shock, what with discovering that there was a fully-functional time machine in her attic for the last God knows how many years and everything," Emmy said. "I think I should go and see how she is."

"Then that's what you should do," Emmeline smiled. "Layton and I will stay here with the children until you return.

"Alright then, that's settled," the professor decided. "Emmy, would you like a lift to Celeste's place, or would you rather walk?"

"Um... I think I'll walk. I need to clear my head after all this," Emmy smiled, glancing at Alfendi. She turned to Flora and gave her a hug. "I'll see you later," she said, holding her tight. They let go and she, the professor and Bronev headed out the back door.

Flora sat back down at the table and looked at Emmeline. "Uh... I know that I'm not allowed to ask too many questions... but..."

"Ask away, dear. I'll tell you if I'm not allowed to answer," Emmeline smiled.

"Well... if the professor and Emmy have older counterparts, that means I must have one too, right?"

Alfendi smiled. "Yeah."

"But there won't be a future Flora coming here, then?"

"I'm afraid we won't be allowed to tell you that, dear," Layton said.

"Oh, okay. But, can you tell me what happens to me? Because you told the professor and Emmy..."

"Yes, we can tell you bits and pieces," Emmeline smiled. "If you ask the right questions."

"What will I become in the future?"

"You're gonna be a. I.T. detective at Scotland Yard," Alfendi replied. He suddenly looked shocked. "I was allowed to tell her that, right?"

"Don't panic, Alfie, I'm sure it's fine," Emmeline smiled.

Flora suddenly looked excited. "Really? Wow! So, I'm gonna be like McGee out of N.C.I.S.? Or Abbie? That's cool!"

Emmeline smiled. "Yes. But don't forget that you need top results to be able to get into college and do all the courses you need. So you'll need to work really hard at school. Just because it happened in our timeline doesn't mean that it'll just happen out of the blue in yours when you don't do the work and put in the effort required. Do you understand?"

"Yep!" Flora beamed.

Emmeline smiled. "I know you're a hard worker and you will get there. We knew that, didn't we Hershel?"

"Of course," he smiled fondly.

Alfendi smiled too and began to snigger. "I still can't believe how small you used to be, Flora."

Flora frowned. "Huh?"

"Well, in our time, you are a bit bigger than you are now."

Flora suddenly looked angry. "Are you calling my older self fat?"

"No, dear, not at all," Emmeline said, giving Alfendi an odd, confused look. "You'll be a bit taller and you'll have grown up more, that's all. Alfendi here is just too used to seeing you all grown up, is all."

"Oh... okay," Flora said, still unsure if Emmeline was telling the truth.

* * *

As he drove trough London to their desired destination, the professor couldn't help but notice that Bronev was giving him odd looks whenever he appeared not to be looking. The atmosphere was tense as they drove on. When they stopped in traffic, the professor turned to Bronev.

"Er... is there a problem, Bronev?" the professor asked.

"Well... you did get my niece pregnant."

"Ah." The professor had been expecting this topic to come up between himself and Bronev. After all, he knew how much Bronev cared for Emmy, and that he had every right to be worried. "Well, I have spoken to Emmy about it, briefly. She seems... afraid of the pain she will endure in childbirth."

"I know. She may put on a brave face, but Emmeline is really not good with pain. I need to know that you will look after her and protect her, no matter what."

"Of course I will," the professor replied. "I love Emmy. And I know that we'll be fine having this baby."

"That reminds me, pull over here," Bronev said, pointing to an empty parking space outside a chemist. The professor did as instructed.

"Go in there and get a pregnancy test," Bronev said firmly. "I don't know if I trust these counterparts of yours. This is the only way that we'll be able to prove if they're truly genuine."

"Er... alright." The professor got out of the car and headed in.

Bronev sighed heavily. He was concerned for his niece's wellbeing. He knew that she still wasn't quite right after what had happened to her, with her father kidnapping her and the Grounds of Rebirth and everything else. _"You never know; maybe a baby will fix things,"_ he told himself. _"Maybe a bit more responsibility will help her settle down nicely and forget the bad things that have happened to her and help her to concentrate on the good."_ And yet, Bronev still had a terrible feeling that Emmy was in a worse state than he had previously realised and that a baby might make things ten times worse.

The professor returned with a white paper bag in hand. Bronev nodded.

"Good. We had better get going, then, before the visiting hours end. Oh, and let me do the talking."

* * *

Emmy clicked the button on her camera and captured the photograph she desired. The park, full of small children running around, people walking their dogs, new mothers walking with their babies in prams. As she watched, Emmy realised that in a year or two, her own baby boy would be growing up right here in London and would be playing in that very park, from when she would be taking him out for walks to when he would be out playing football with his friends. Emmy smiled fondly. There were so many happy years ahead to look forward to. She just needed to get better first.

Emmy walked on, going up the road towards Celeste's home. She thought about how much Celeste had helped her in the past. _"Perhaps if I offload to her over a cup of tea or two, I'll feel better,"_ she thought. She reached the front door and knocked.

She heard someone come forward and answer it. Celeste opened, looking stressed and very confused.

"Celeste, I heard about the machine and everything else—" Emmy began.

"No, you didn't. Not yet."

Emmy frowned. "What—"

"I think you'd better just come in. And brace yourself. I think you may be in for a bit of a shock."

* * *

"Please state your name and business," the woman at the reception desk said.

"We are here on behalf of White's funeral directors to see one Dimitri Allen," Bronev replied.

"I'm afraid he was put into solitary confinement for reasons that are strictly confidential," the woman replied, checking her list.

"Please, it's urgent," the professor said. "We—"

"His mother has just died. We would prefer to tell him in person," Bronev interrupted.

The professor just about managed to retain his look of surprise and tried to act as though this cock-and-bull story wasn't news to him.

"Ah," the woman said, looking at them pitifully. "Well, we have exceptions for situations like these. Take a seat in the visiting area and I will send some officers to fetch him immediately."

"Thank you," Bronev said. He turned on his heel and entered the visiting room. The professor quickly followed suit, astonished by how good a liar Bronev really was.

They sat down and watched as two officers passed them by, leaving to go and get Dimitri.

The professor turned to Bronev, frowning. "So, all that about his mother—"

"If we came charging in, demanding that we see Dimitri so that he could finish an incomplete time machine to send the older counterparts of you and your girlfriend back to their own time, we would have been sent to the loony bin in ten minutes flat," Bronev said simply. "And besides; prisons always make exceptions for those with bereavement issues."

The police officers returned with Dimitri in tow. He looked sad as they beckoned him to sit down. As the police officers left them to it, Dimitri frowned at them.

"My mother died fifteen years ago. What do you really want?"

"We've made a discovery in Claire's mother's home that I think you may find shocking," the professor explained. "Allow me to explain..."

* * *

"Is everything in order now?" Andrea asked.

"Yes, they are," the woman replied.

"And their older selves came, as you said they would?"

"That they did."

"Good. Everything is in place. Now all we have to do is wait." Andrea smiled. "Emmy Altava, I will have Hershel as my own. I will have my revenge."

* * *

"... So the machine actually works?" Dimitri said, looking excited. "My word... and I thought that a fully functional time machine was impossible to build..."

"Not quite, Dimitri," the professor replied. "You see, the machine itself is more of a portal from the future to the past. The machine is not developed enough to actually take someone to another point in time, but it has the properties needed for someone to travel from the future to the past. But if they travelled to the point before the time machine was completed, then they would be trapped, like our older counterparts are now."

"So you and your partner have older counterparts?"

"Yes."

"Hmm... I will need to take a look for myself. I think I have a theory, but I will need to take a good look at the technology of the machine before I can be certain that it works. But how will I get out of prison?"

"That's where my little story comes in," Bronev replied. "I believe we will have to lay low for a few days, in fact, no, a week, and then we will call here and state that you are to attend your mother's funeral. Then I will call on a couple of acquaintances to stage your 'kidnapping'—"

"Wait – you're going to kidnap me?" Dimitri asked, shocked.

"Yes. That way, it's not your fault and you won't get into trouble. And I can ensure that it will not get traced back to us."

"Er... alright," Dimitri said, looking unsure.

"Anyway, a few days after that, we will smuggle you into Celeste's house and you can get to work on that time machine. Alright?"

"Alright. It's a plan."


	4. The Other Counterparts

Chapter 3 – The Other Counterparts

"I think you'd better just come in. And brace yourself. I think you may be in for a bit of a shock."

"Er... okay."Emmy followed Celeste into the house. Celeste leaded the way into the kitchen. Emmy followed, wondering what on earth Celeste could have meant.

"Celeste, has my uncle kept something from us about this case?" It wouldn't have been the first time he had done this.

"No. He doesn't know, at least, not yet. Here we are." Celeste opened the kitchen door and entered.

Emmy followed, and, like the last time she had entered a kitchen that day, she was shocked to see who was there. She simply couldn't believe her eyes.

Sat at the table were a young girl and a man, who she recognised right away. The man had wavy blonde hair and wore a brown jacket with a shirt and tie. And the young girl wore a very familiar-looking yellow sweater. Emmy's mouth fell open. It was like she was staring back a good ten years into the past. A younger Emmy and Bronev sat at the table, gaping back at her.

"... U-Uncle Leon?" Emmy gasped.

"... Emmeline?" he whispered.

The young Emmy flinched at that. She stared anxiously at Emmy, wondering what was to come next.

"... How... how did you get here?" Emmy asked.

"Where is 'here' exactly?" Leon asked.

"More like 'ven is here'," the young Emmy muttered.

Emmy took a good look at her younger counterpart. Her wavy hair was tied back in a braid and slung over one shoulder. She wore a turtle-neck sweater with a skirt – a garment which Emmy herself hadn't had the nerve to wear since she had finished school – and carried the familiar brown bag containing her camera – the exact same bag which Emmy herself had on her at all times, which was attached to the belt of her trench coat. When she spoke, she used a heavy Czech accent, one which Emmy distinctly recognised from her childhood. Young Emmy looked nervously down at her feet and Emmy, realising that she must have been weirding her littler self out, did the same.

"So," Leon smiled, placing an arm around his young niece's shoulder, "When exactly are we?"

"It is the 15th of May 2014," Celeste replied.

The young Emmy looked up in shock and Leon gaped at Celeste. "You what?!"

"What was the date when you were last at home?" Celeste asked.

"December 14th 2001," young Emmy replied.

"There," Celeste said. "You've travelled about twelve and a half years into the future."

"But how?" Leon asked. "The last thing I remember is Emmeline and I being in the kitchen at home having breakfast, and then all of a sudden we land in your attic with some bizarre-looking machine about to short-circuit on us. What on earth is the meaning of this?"

"We're not entirely sure," Celeste replied.

"The professor – Professor Hershel Layton – is going to see a poly-dimensional researcher who specialises in time travel. He should be able to offer us a way out of this."

"But... vy us?" the young Emmy asked. "If somevun vanted to hurt us, zen zey vould just go ahead and hurt you personally, no?"

Emmy paused, thinking. "Well, I don't remember anything about travelling to the past when I was fourteen with Uncle Leon, so I get the feeling that someone brought you both here to hurt us."

"More than hurt you, Emmeline," Celeste said, looking worried. "If this never happened to you, then this whole occurrence could alter the course of history."

"It could very well threaten our existence..." Emmy said slowly, remembering the words of the professor's older counterpart. "We need to get back. We need to speak to the other Emmy and Layton.


	5. Clarification

Chapter 4 – Clarification

"Here we are," Emmy said as the three of them arrived at the professor's home. Leon and the young Emmy looked on in interest as Emmy unlocked the door. They entered and went into the kitchen where Emmeline and Alfendi were engrossed in conversation.

"So, where did you and Dad get the name Alfendi from?" he asked.

Emmeline smiled. "Well, actually, neither of us wanted to call you Alfendi. We wanted to call you Leon, but fifteen years ago, when we were in the scenario our younger selves are in now, we saw you as you are now, and you were called Alfendi, so we thought, just to be safe, that we'd better call you Alfendi, just in case the world ended or something if we didn't."

"That's so weird!" he exclaimed. He turned around to see Emmy and her two newest acquaintances at the kitchen door and grinned. He turned back to his mother. "No way..."

"Way." Emmeline smiled. "You got here alright, then?"

"Wait... you knew that this would happen?" Emmy asked, shocked.

"That's right," Emmeline smiled.

"So they're supposed to be here?" Emmy asked, frowning. "But... how? I don't remember ever going into the past with Uncle Leon."

"Er... I'm not allowed to tell you that, sorry Emmy," Emmeline replied. "That's something you'll have to figure out on your own."

"So you're Emmeline too?" Leon asked.

Emmeline smiled. "Yes, I am. I'm what she is going to become twenty-seven years after your present."

"And do I have an older counterpart here?" Leon asked.

"Yes, you have one, but he is still out with the professor at the moment," Emmeline replied. "He should be back soon."

As if on cue, the front door opened again and the professor and Bronev entered the house.

"We have a bit of bad news, things are going to be on hold for about a week, as we—" the Professor stopped as he entered the kitchen. "Er..."

Bronev stared at his younger self. "What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"Another mystery for us to solve, Hershel," Emmy smiled.

"I'll add it onto the list," he muttered, sitting down at the table beside Alfendi.

Leon stared at his older self, as did the young Emmy. Young Emmy looked back and forth from Bronev to Leon, smiling to herself. "I like your beard, Uncle Leon," she smiled.

Bronev laughed, as did Leon. Emmy smiled. Emmeline caught her eye and grinned at her.

"So, what are we going to call this one, then?" Alfendi asked. "Emmy and Emmeline are already taken."

"Call her Little Emmy, and present Emmy big Emmy," Emmeline replied, "but only if the need to distinguish between the Emmy's arises. Is that fair enough?"

"I don't like Little Emmy," Little Emmy complained.

"And I don't like big Emmy," Emmy said. "It makes me sound fat."

"Well, tough, because there are too many Emmy's to go around, and you can't all be called Emmy or else we'll just get confused and you'll give me another migraine," Emmeline scolded.

Emmy smiled. "Fair enough," she said as, yet again, the front door went.

"I'll go," Bronev said, leaving the kitchen. He squeezed past Layton as he left the room and Layton smiled at Leon. "Hershel Layton, how do you do?" he said, extending a hand to him.

Leon looked very confused and shook his hand. "So, there are two of you and two of me, and three of Emmeline..."

"Actually, there is three of Layton now."

Bronev re-entered the kitchen with Celeste and a teenage boy with an afro in tow.

The professor placed a hand over his eyes. "Oh dear..."

Alfendi looked from the professor to Layton to the teenage Hershel, grinning from ear to ear. "Dad," he smiled. "You never told me that you had an afro!"

"For good reason," Emmy smiled. Layton raised his eyebrows at her.

The professor turned to her. "So, I presume that this is the Hershel Layton that is supposed to be called Hershel?"

Emmeline smiled at him. "That's right."

Celeste sighed exasperatedly. "Now, is that all of them, because I don't think I can handle any more people mysteriously appearing from different time zones and strolling down from my attic."

"Er..." Emmeline looked anxiously at Layton. "I think so."

"Good."

"And Dimitri will be coming to have a look at the machine next week, so make sure no one else has access to it until then," Bronev said.

"The police will be letting him out for that?" Flora asked.

"Er... no. We will have to break him out for that," the professor said.

Everyone stared at him. Layton nodded.

"It's the only way you'll get him out," he agreed.

"But what if you get caught?" Emmy asked worriedly.

"He won't," Bronev promised. "I'll call on a few acquaintances to take care of it for me."

"Who?" Emmy asked.

"You remember Bloom, don't you? Well, I got his father out of a particularly sticky situation a couple of weeks back, so he owes me a favour. And I'm sure, if I persuade him, he'll call on a few friends of his to lend a hand."

"Er... are you sure that you can trust him?" Emmy asked nervously.

"Why not?"

"Well, last time you had him undercover... he kind of got caught."

"Well, that was because Layton here figured it out, but the London police, as we all know, are as thick as two short planks, so he should get away with it this time."

"Er... if you say so," Emmy replied, looking anxious.

Bronev placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Emmeline. We won't get the blame for this. I know it."

"Bloom?" Leon asked. "Leonard Bloom?"

"The very same," Emmeline smiled, winking at Little Emmy. She smirked and looked away.

"Er... I wonder what Luke is going to make of all of this when he arrives tomorrow?" Emmy wondered, eager to change the subject.

"Well, whatever way we put it, it's all going to come as a big shock for him, believe me," Layton smiled. "But, Luke being Luke, he'll adapt to the situation very quickly."

"Yeah," Alfendi grinned, glancing at Hershel and winking at his father.

Layton frowned at him. "What's the matter?"

Alfendi started laughing. "I still can't believe that you, you of all people, had an afro!"

The professor shook his head and Layton sighed heavily.

Emmeline grinned. "Well, you did experience all of this fifteen years ago, so you really can't say that you didn't see that coming, Hershel."

Hershel scratched his fuzzy head, looking extremely confused. "Would someone mind telling me where I am and what exactly is going on here?"

Layton sighed again. "Oh my, where to begin...?"


	6. Testing Time

Chapter 5 – Testing Time

That night, all was peaceful in the professor's house. There wasn't a sound to be heard as Emmeline and Layton slept in the spare room, Hershel on a mattress on the living room floor and Alfendi on the sofa, while little Emmy and Leon stayed at Bronev's place. The professor smiled as Emmy lay fast asleep on top of him, exhausted from her stressful ordeal. His thoughts wandered to the pregnancy test that he and Bronev had acquired the previous day, and decided that they would get that out of the way first thing that morning before Bronev arrived.

The professor held Emmy tighter as she stirred and stroked her hair gently off of her face. He began to wonder what she really thought about having a baby with him. He realised that she and Bronev hadn't really had the chance to talk about it, what with there being so many unexpected turns of events yesterday. He wondered if Bronev approved of this pregnancy, what with he and Emmy being unmarried as of yet. After all, of what the professor knew of Bronev, he knew for sure that he was an old-fashioned man.

It wasn't that the professor didn't want to marry Emmy – quite the contrary, in fact – he would love to take her hand in marriage. And he supposed it was only right that he propose to Emmy at the very least, to prove his loyalty to her and that e would stand by her and the baby. But he didn't want to put even more pressure on Emmy. He sighed gently, so as not to disturb Emmy's sleep, unsure of what he should do. And the worst thing about it was that he really didn't have very long to decide what to do.

But then he realised something. There was another Layton, two doors down from him, who had experienced the exact same problem fifteen years prior. He could ask him. The professor didn't really see what the problem could be with this – after all, his older counterpart may have very well asked the same question to his older counterpart fifteen years ago. In fact, the more the professor thought about it, the likelier it seemed that that was the best course of action. He would do that, right after that pregnancy test. He sighed again, holding Emmy tight, and closed his eyes, trying to get some sleep. He had two lectures tomorrow which he had no little to no preparation for, and he would have to fish out some of last year's notes as soon as he got to the office. _"Oh, the stresses of life,"_ he thought to himself. _"I suppose if everything was easy, it would be too boring, wouldn't it?"_

"Hershel?" The faintest of whispers came from on top of him – Emmy was awake.

The professor smiled at her. "I'm sorry, my dear, did I wake you?" he whispered.

"No," she whispered in reply, "I've been having a bit of an off night."

"Me too," the professor replied. "Have you been thinking about the baby?"

Emmy nodded. "Amongst other things, yes."

The professor stroked her cheek. "Emmy, I really must ask you something."

"Yeah?"

The professor hesitated, clearing his throat. "What do you think about this pregnancy?"

Emmy frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well...do you want this baby?"

"... Why? Don't you?"

"Hmm? Well, of course I do, but that's not what I'm—"

"Good, because I do too." Emmy beamed at him. "I wanted us to have children, you know, one day, after we... er... got married, but this is..."

"Unexpected," the professor finished.

Emmy nodded. "The vast majority of unplanned pregnancies are, you know."

The professor smiled.

"But it's not bad, you know, it's not the end of the world—"

"— But the beginning of a new one," the professor finished. "This is the start of a whole new life for us, you me and Flora, but I was just saying that if you didn't want this—"

"But I do!" Emmy exclaimed. "I want this, I want a new start, and I want to keep Alfendi."

The professor smiled and held her tighter. "Good," he smiled, "because I want the same thing."

"And Flora seemed pretty excited about it when we heard," Emmy smiled. "But I don't know about Uncle Leon. He seemed very quiet."

"Well, yesterday in the car, he seemed very dubious about it," the professor said. "He made me stop off at a chemist and buy a pregnancy test, just to check if our older counterparts and Alfendi are indeed authentic. I think he's suspicious, but I can't say that I blame him, despite how much I believe that our older counterparts are real."

"And what about our younger ones? Are they real? Because, now, I don't know about you, but I certainly have no recollection of ever travelling to the future when I was fourteen."

"Yes, neither do I," the professor admitted. "Which raises the question – if neither of us remember it happening, and if there was no time machine in the past, then how on earth did they get here?"

"And our older selves are definitely keeping something from us. They say that we have to figure stuff out for ourselves. What does that even mean?" Emmy asked.

"There are definitely mysteries in this case that we have to figure out on our own, without help, in order for us to get the answers we need to make sense of all of this. And really, we can't do anything until Dimitri gets a look at that time machine."

"I still don't think it's a good idea for you and Uncle Leon to kidnap him, Hershel. You could both get into some serious trouble. And the fact that you're getting Bloom to do the dirty work is even worse. He may seem like the sneaky, cunning type, but really he's just a stuck-up braggart who thinks he's better than everyone else. He'll blow it, I know he will."

The professor frowned at her. He remembered how her older self winked at little Emmy, and how Emmy was so keen to change the subject.

"Er, Emmy... do you know D.I. Bloom from anywhere apart from Targent?"

"Er... yeah. Why?"

"Well, my dear, I'm simply curious as to why you dislike him so much."

"There are some things that you don't need to know, Hershel, and that is one of them." Emmy smiled and sat up. She looked at the clock, which read 3.30am. "I think we ought to do that pregnancy test now. I have a feeling that there's going to be a petty long queue to the bathroom this morning."

The professor smiled. "Considering the fact that Flora spends an hour in the bathroom every morning, and you spend a good half an hour, and there are two of you in this house now, along with two of me and a teenage boy, I think you may be spot on, my dear." He smiled at the thought of a mile-long queue outside his bathroom. "Let's go."

* * *

"Well, it says here that it turns pink for positive, if you're pregnant, and blue for negative," the professor said, squinting at the instructions.

"Well, we'll see now in a minute," Emmy replied, holding the test up so she could see. "Nothing yet." She turned to the professor. "What if it's negative? Or what if it's too early in the pregnancy for us to do the test? Your older self said that I'd be having the baby in about nine months, and... We... did it... a few weeks back, so it might be too early."

"I'm not sure, Emmy. I don't think so."

"Here we go." Emmy frowned.

"What is it? Pink for yes, or blue for no, now remember..."

"Yeah I know... but..."

"Yes?"

"It's purple."


	7. Chaos

Chapter 6 – Chaos

"Flora! Flora, will you hurry up in there!"

"I have school today, unlike some people, little brother!"

"Flora, please! I'm bursting!"

"You'll have to wait! Sorry Emmy!"

"Flora, I swear to god, if you've been in there that long doing your make-up-"

"That's none of your concern!"

And it went on like that for about an hour as Emmy, Emmeline, the two professors and Alfendi waited not-so-patiently for the bathroom.

Hershel frowned at the spectacle before him. "What's in there that's so fascinating?" he asked, smiling.

"Er... the toilet?" Alfendi snarled. He clenched his hands tightly over his crotch as he waited, hopping from one leg to the other. "Flora, I'll break that door down in a minute!"

They heard a snap and the door was unlocked. Flora emerged, fresh as a daisy, with a big grin on her face. As soon as the door opened, Hershel dashed in and locked it again.

The long line of grumbling people outside the bathroom groaned and yelled at Hershel.

"Some gentleman you'll turn out to be!" Emmeline scolded.

"AAARGHH!" Alfendi roared. "I WAS MEANT TO BE NEXT!"

* * *

"Hershel! There's no more milk!"

"What am I going to do about it? All my money is back in my wallet about twenty-three years ago," Hershel replied, looking confused.

"Huh? Sorry, not you, dear, my Hershel," Emmy said.

"Professor, there's no bread, or cereal, or anything remotely breakfastable in that kitchen," Flora declared.

"Er... I really don't think 'breakfastable' is an actual word, dear," the professor frowned.

Just then, they heard a roar from upstairs.

"WHO USED THE LAST OF THE TOILET PAPER?!"

Flora grimaced. "I knew you all shouldn't have jumped him in the queue."

The professor sighed heavily, handing Flora some money. "Go and get some toilet paper for Alfendi, please."

"And some milk!" Emmy called.

"And bread, lots of bread, I want toast," Emmeline smiled.

Flora frowned. "What was the first thing again?"

The professor sighed heavily. Emmy caught his eye and grinned.

"Oh, the joys of having so many people in the house."


	8. Arrival

Chapter 7 – Arrival

"Are you sure he'll be alright?" Brenda asked worriedly, for the umpteenth time.

"Positive," Clark said, yet again. "Luke is a very mature young man, and I'm sure he'll be able to get himself on the bus from Heathrow to Hershel and Emmy's place without a hitch. Just trust him. He'll be fine."

"But what if at the airport he gets on the wrong plane? Or if he gets lost and misses his flight?"

"Then he'll call us and we'll go and get him and book another for tomorrow. He'll have the sense to do that, and we can afford to book another, that is, if we even need to. And Luke knows full well how to ask at a reception desk, Brenda."

"I know," Brenda said worriedly. "But he's my baby boy; you know I can't help but worry."

Clark smiled, pulling his wife into a hug. "I know. And that's what makes you a good mother. But remember – every young bird must spread its wings and take flight one day. And that's exactly what Luke is doing. He'll be absolutely fine. I know it."

* * *

"_Where am I going?"_ Luke thought, confused, as people rushed around all around him, some bumping into him, some brushing past him, all going in different directions. He looked around, on tiptoes, trying to look over the heads of the crowd of people around him and see the sign which read where the Cork to Heathrow flight was going to take off from. But the seven-foot tall Russian standing in his way was making that extremely difficult.

Luke sighed heavily, lost and confused, wondering what to do. He looked around again and spotted a porter wheeling a trolley of luggage. He ran over and called out to him.

"Sir! Excuse me, sir! Sir! Hey! You with all the suitcases!"

The man turned around to see Luke running towards him.

"Can I help you, young sir?" he asked cheerfully.

"Yeah! I'm terribly sorry to disturb, but could you point me in the direction of where the Cork to Heathrow flight will be taking off?"

"Er..." the porter, who was quite tall himself, jumped up and caught a glimpse of the sign. "Station ten. Straight down that way and turn left and there are numbers over the stations, so you can't miss it."

"Thanks sir!" Luke smiled.

"You're very welcome!" he beamed. "Have a nice day!"

Luke ran down the direction that the porter pointed him to, and found himself at the entrance of the airport once again.

"_Huh? But I thought..."_

Luke sighed. He'd been had.

"_What an assh—"_he quickly stopped himself. He knew that even thinking it would still be ungentlemanly, even if no one else could hear it. He decided to try to reason out any truth from what the porter had said.

"_**Straight down that way and turn left, and there are numbers over the stations, so you can't miss it..."**_

"_So if I go this way..."_ Luke ran back the way he came. _"... and turn right..."_ He spotted a number of reception desks all in a line, leading to brass door. "Yes!" and that wasn't all he spotted. He spotted the porter, waving cheerily at him from one of the desks. Luke hurried over to him, annoyed.

"How come you pointed me the wrong way?" he asked.

"Because, judging by the way you spoke to me, you obviously didn't remember me," he huffed.

That was when Luke noticed something. The man's own bag was full of little trinkets and other random small objects. Luke then recognised him immediately.

"I remember now! You're—"

"Indeed! Now, I lead you here because over there, underneath that dustbin, is a curio! Now, I believe you have ten minutes before your flight takes off, so why not have a look?!"

Luke smiled widely. "Don't mind if I do!"

* * *

Bronev walked up the professor's drive with his younger self and Little Emmy in tow, and knocked loudly on the door. They waited as they heard the sound of someone scurrying towards the door. "I'm coming!" they heard a familiar voice call.

Emmy opened the door and beamed at her uncle. "Hello, Uncle Leon!" She held out her arms for a hug. Bronev smiled and took her in his arms, stepping aside to let Little Emmy and Leon in. Leon smiled at the two, taking Little Emmy's hand and beckoning for her to come in.

"How are you this morning, my dear?" Bronev asked.

"I'm fine," Emmy replied.

They let go of each other and smiled.

"Hershel and I did a pregnancy test last night."

"And?" Bronev asked.

"It came out purple."

Bronev frowned. "Purple?"

"Yeah. What does that mean?"

"Well, it's either pink or blue, but not both mixed together. How odd."

Emmy nodded. "How odd indeed."

She took Bronev's hand and went inside.

"So, where is Layton this morning?" Bronev asked.

Emmy frowned at his sullen expression. Well, if you mean our Hershel, he's gone off to work, but if you mean future Layton, he's in the kitchen. And there's no need to take that tone when you talk about him, Uncle Leon. He's your son."

"Speaking of sons, have you been in touch with the other one about this?" Bronev asked.

"What, Desmond? No, not yet."

"Don't you think he'll want to know about becoming an uncle? And Aurora about becoming a cousin?"

"Er... I suppose so."

"And have you been in to see your father yet?"

"No. I went once, that's enough," Emmy said stubbornly.

Bronev smiled. "Don't you think he'll want to know about his first grandchild?"

"No," Emmy said shortly.

They entered the living room, where Little Emmy and Leon had sat down. Leon nodded at Bronev when Emmy had entered.

"Right you are," Bronev said, tapping Little Emmy on the shoulder. "Why don't you go and talk to Alfendi for a bit? Try to improve you English."

"Eh... okay." She got up and left.

Emmy turned to Bronev with a questioning look on her face.

"My younger self has a few questions that I think you ought to answer for him. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." He left.

Emmy sat down on the armchair opposite to Leon and sighed. "Er... if this is bout Targent, then—"

"No, it's not," Leon cut in. "This is about you."

Emmy looked up. "What about me?"

"Do you... know... about..." he trailed off and looked at her sadly.

"You mean... the fire?"

Leon nodded.

"Yes, I know the truth. Why do you ask?"

"When did you find out?"

"About a year ago."

"Who told you?"

Emmy sighed. "My boyfriend found out, and he told me. Professor Layton."

"And Aleksander...?"

"He knows too. I know everything; what my father did to Rachel and how he kidnapped you both and everything. I know that you only did what you did so that dad could know what he had really done to you."

Leon nodded. "I'm sorry..."

Emmy shook her head. "You were unwell at the time. And... I think it was better all along that my mother never found out about Targent. And Daniel... well... he was better off without a father like that."

"And you?"

"Well... you came and got me in the end. You made me better and stronger. That's all that matters to me." Emmy smiled and took his hand.

Leon smiled back. "I'm so glad that my Emmeline is going to turn out like you. Thank you for forgiving me. It makes me feel so much better." He leaned over and kissed Emmy on the cheek.

"I'm glad that you understand that I forgive you," Emmy sighed. "But I just wish that my Uncle Leon would understand that."

* * *

Luke smiled. He had managed to get the flight over to London without too much fuss and now he had managed to get the right bus too. He had proven to his parents that he was alright to do it on his own, and therefore was able to visit the professor, Emmy and Flora a lot more often without having to wait for his father to get time off work. He hadn't seen them since they left Cork after the whole grounds of rebirth incident, and wondered if Emmy was really alright after her ordeal. Sure, he had talked to her on the phone and she said that she was fine, but Luke couldn't help but worry. Luke knew that people could come back very different from the grounds of rebirth, and wondered if Emmy was really the same. She had sounded normal on the phone, but Luke was still afraid for her.

"_Snap out of it, Luke,"_ he thought to himself. _"You're starting to sound like mum."_

The bus stopped outside Gressenheller and Luke got off hurriedly and walked quickly up the road to the estate on which the professor lived. He went quickly, as he was dying to see the professor and Emmy. And he was starving.

He quickly ran up the drive to the professor's house and knocked sharply on the door.

"Hang on!" he heard Emmy cry as she approached.

Luke smiled. _"She sounds fine to me,"_ he thought happily.

The door opened and he saw Emmy beaming at him.

"Luke!" she cried, holding her arms out for a hug.

Luke ran forward and threw his arms around her neck. Emmy laughed and held him close to her.

"I've really missed you Emmy! And the professor! Is he here?"

"No, sorry Luke, he's at a lecture at the minute and Flora's at school. But we have a bit of a mystery going on here, though."

"A mystery?" Luke said, sounding intrigued. "What kind of mystery? A murder? A theft?"

"You'll see now when we get inside," Emmy smiled, leading the way in. "Though, I have to warn you; you may be in for a bit of a shock."

* * *

They entered the kitchen. Luke stopped dead in his tracks, unsure of what to make of his surroundings, or rather, the people in it.

"Hi Luke!" Emmeline beamed. "Oh, bless, looked at him, I still can't believe he was so small!"

"Wha— who are you?! You're not..." Luke trailed off, in shock. He looked over at Layton, who was smiling at him. He turned back to Emmy. "Is this that mystery that you were going on about?"

Emmy beamed. "Yep. I told you that you were in for a bit of a shock."

Luke sat down and stared at Emmeline, amazed. "So, I'm guessing that you're Emmy from the future, right?"

Emmeline nodded. "That's right. Call me Emmeline, it's easier."

"So, what's your story? How did you get here?"

Emmeline sighed. "It's a really long story... where to begin...?"


	9. Plotting

Chapter 8 – Plotting

As she sat at the table with a mug of tea clenched in both hands, Andrea sighed heavily. She had been there for the last few hours, mulling over her plan, with her companion sitting across from her. Six days, then it would all be happening...

And yet, there was a part of Andrea that was worried about her plan. _"What if it all goes wrong?"_ she wondered. _"What if they all die? Then I'll never get him... I'll have had my revenge on Altava, sure, but... I can't lose Hershel before I've even gotten him..."_

Andrea looked across to her companion who looked up. She smiled at Andrea.

"I assume that you have questions for me, yes?" she asked.

"If young Hershel is here, then how is this plan going to work?" Andrea asked, frowning in confusion and worry.

"You haven't figured it out?" she asked. "Well, it is simple, really. With the other's younger selves' right here, then those people will be disappearing either way. We aren't going to spare them or show them any mercy. The only person who will be spared is Hershel."

"But how? There's no way that we can reverse the effects of—"

"Yes there is. I got back in touch with father, and he's finished his little project." The woman reached into her shopping bag and pulled out a box. She opened it and took out a fitted helmet and goggle contraption. "You see, it's simple. This is a memory eraser. You see, if one of the younger selves doesn't remember this encounter and is sent home then, by the laws of space time and the order of occurrence, the said person should live their life as normal. So..." the woman waved her hand, beckoning for Andrea to finish for her.

"... We use it on young Hershel?" Andrea asked.

"Precisely. But only if he complies with your demand."

Andrea smiled. "brilliant." She beamed at her companion. She could just imagine it now; her and the professor, happily together, with Altava out of the picture. She would have completely disappeared without a trace along with Bronev, and she and Layton would be forced to be together by the counter affects of her plan. Everything would be perfect.

Andrea looked at the contraption and smiled. "I'm so glad I thought of it."


	10. Talk It All Through

Chapter 9 – Talking It All Through

"I'm still not sure about this, Uncle Leon."

"We'll be fine, I promise you, Emmeline," Bronev insisted. "We can trust Bloom. Apart from when he got caught by Layton, we have no other reason to distrust him."

"No other reason to distrust him? Are you serious? After what he did to me?" Emmy exclaimed.

"That was years ago. He was only a child, as you were. This is different," Bronev said simply.

Emmy sighed deeply.

"Besides, it's too late to ask anyone else. Dimitri Allen gets out on compassionate leave in a few days, and I don't know a single person who would risk doing a kidnapping for me on such short notice, do you?"

Emmy sighed again. "I suppose not."

Bronev sighed too and took her hand. "I know that you resent Bloom after what happened between you, but the past is the past, and I'm sorry if you don't like it, but you really need to let that go, for Layton's sake, and the baby as much as your own. Do you understand?"

Emmy nodded; a look of disgust on her face. "Got it."

"Besides, it'll be Bloom taking the fall if he blows it, not us. We won't even be traced back to the crime. That'll make for a very satisfying revenge, don't you think?"

Emmy smiled at her uncle.

"That's the spirit, Emmeline. Now, I need to go over and see Bloom to make sure that he knows what's what. Will you be alright until Layton get's back from work?"

Emmy nodded.

"Well then I'll see you later." Bronev kissed Emmy on the cheek and left.

Emmy sighed heavily and lay back on the bed. She trusted Bloom as far as she could throw him, and what with his fat head and self importance, that wasn't very far. She hated the thought of her uncle doing dealings with him. She thought that, when Targent fell, she was finally done with him. But no. Her uncle had to drag things back up again.

Though, Emmy had the horrific feeling that everything would be dragged back up anyway, what with her having a younger self and a younger version of her uncle right downstairs in her living room. She knew that if her younger self and Luke got talking, a lot of things would be brought back up again, like school, and boyfriends and her family... that is, if she didn't break down in tears first. Emmy had almost forgotten how delicate she was at that age.

Emmy sighed deeply. She didn't know what to do. She was so stressed about the baby, and growing more and more distant with her uncle and the professor, and about the kidnapping plan her uncle had come up with. She wondered if this was bad for the baby.

She placed a hand on her stomach. Her small stomach, which would be getting a lot bigger. She sighed again. _"What if Hershel isn't attracted to me after I have the baby?"_ she thought. _"Great. Yet another thing for me to worry about."_ Emmy picked up a picture of the professor and herself that she kept on her bedside table and looked at it. It had been taken about nine months ago on her birthday. The professor had just put a gold necklace which he had bought for her as a present around her neck and had wrapped his arms around her waist. She was beaming at him and had taken his hands. Emmy remembered how happy she was on that day. And yet, even then she had felt that the Professor still didn't understand her. Emmy held the picture close to her chest and closed her eyes.

"_We really need to talk, Hershel..."_

"Emmy?"

Emmy sat up, looking to see who was at the door. Emmeline peered at her cautiously.

"Is it okay if I come in?"

Emmy nodded. "It's your house too, technically." She patted a space on the bed beside her.

Emmeline smiled and sat beside her younger self. "You know, as hard as it may be to imagine, I know exactly how you feel, Emmy."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah." Emmeline took Emmy's hand. Emmy opened her eyes, surprised. Emmeline continued.

"I know exactly how you feel, Emmy. I know what it's like to be trapped in a world of pain and not know how to find a way out. I know what it's like to have so many people around you who love you and care about you, and yet not be able to open up to any of them. I know what it's like to feel alone in a crowd."

Emmy felt tears start up in her eyes, but blinked them back as hard as she could.

"I know that you and Hershel have been growing distant recently. I know that it's been all about work and everything's been piling up inside."

Emmy nodded silently.

"I know about the nightmares, Emmy."

A tear fell down Emmy's cheek. She let it fall; she really didn't care about keeping it in anymore.

"And the baby is just adding to all that stress and making everything worse, isn't it?" Emmeline squeezed Emmy's hand.

Emmy took deep breaths and nodded.

Emmeline smiled. "I know that you feel that you can't talk to anyone about this, but you're wrong. You can talk to me. Because I've been through all of this before. And if you can't talk to yourself about it, then who can you talk to?"

Emmy sniffed. "I know... but... it's just that there's so... so much..."

"So much going on in that pretty little head of yours that you just wouldn't know where to start," Emmeline finished. "I know. I remember." Emmeline laid back and placed an arm around Emmy. "Let's start from the start."

"What start?" Emmy asked, wiping her eyes. "It's always been this way."

"True," Emmeline agreed. "But I think we should start with Dad."

"What about him?"

"You're still scared that he'll come and get you. You're afraid that he'll hurt you all over again, like he did when you were a kid, and in Canada. But, believe me; he'll never look at you without a guard being present. Even in my time, he's still in prison. Sure, his sentence is nearly up, he had three years left, but he'll change a lot, you'll see. He'll never hurt you again. And the nightmares, well, they'll stop in time. The more you see him, then the more your mind will become tolerant to him and before you know it, the nightmares will soon be gone. Trust me."

"But... I don't know if I can face him again... I really don't want to..."

"The next visit will be just as difficult as the last one was, I won't lie to you there. But it'll make things a lot easier, trust me. And you won't be alone either." Emmeline tightened her grip on Emmy. "Hershel will be there for you through everything. Just so long as you talk to him first."

"But... how? How can I tell him that I can't talk to him about my problems...?"

"Well, if you tell him that you're unhappy, than that's a decent enough start," Emmeline replied. "You know he just wants you to be happy. And he thinks you are, that's why he's not talking as much. What you both need is a good heart-to-heart about all this. About you, the nightmares, dad, the baby..."

"Uncle Leon," Emmy added.

"Yeah. And you need to tell him that he's overworking himself and to cut his hours. You need time together, you know, to bond."

Emmy frowned. "Bond?"

"Well, you have been distant recently." Emmeline smiled. "You need to find that spark. Both of you do. You need a bit of that little something that brought you together in the first place. And you will. You'll fall in love with him all over again. You'll look at him and feel that warmth, like you did that first time he held your hand in hospital over in Ireland, you remember."

"Yeah." Emmy smiled. "That's what we need."

"You need that," Emmeline smiled. "You need to have that feeling with you, because that's what's going to get you through this ordeal. Having the love of your life by your side, and his baby inside you." Emmeline squeezed Emmy's shoulders. "You will get through this, you know. But it'll just take time."

"Emmy?" They heard the professor calling their name from downstairs.

Emmeline smiled. "Go and give him a cuddle. You'll feel better."

Emmy smiled back at her. "Thank you. I feel better after talking about it all."

"Just do as I say, and you'll be fine," Emmeline smiled.

"Always listen to number one," Emmy laughed, giving Emmeline a hug and leaving the room.

Emmeline smiled and listened as she heard Emmy approach the professor and give him a hug. She heard the professor speaking.

"Are you alright, my dear?"

"We really need to talk, Hershel. I need to talk to you. About me."

Emmeline smiled. She remembered that moment. She remembered how it felt to be that person. She also remembered the day, almost fifteen years ago to the day, when her older self had left to go back to her own time, and that she felt that she would miss her, and all her great advice. And now she was that person.

For the first time in her entire life, she was glad to be the person she was. She was glad to be Emmeline Layton.


	11. Little Emmy to the Rescue

Chapter 10 – Little Emmy to the Rescue

"She's all on her own over there," Flora said empathetically. "Maybe one of us should go and talk to her."

She, Luke, Alfendi and Hershel looked over to the corner, where Little Emmy was sat on the floor scribbling on a page. She had hardly said two words to anyone since her arrival from the past. She always stuck close to her uncle and never so much as looked at anyone else.

"What's her problem?" Alfendi asked. "She's nothing like mum. Mum actually looks at people and talks to people; I've never known her to be shy. But I don't know about this one."

"Maybe you ought to go, Flora," Luke suggested.

"Why?" Flora asked. "Because I'm a girl?"

"Well, that, and because you can empathise with her. You know what it's like to be an outsider, right? Well, go talk to her and see what she says."

"Why don't we all go?" Hershel asked. "She's a little girl, I'm sure she won't bite."

"Yeah," Flora said, giving Luke an odd look. "Let's go."

They approached her cautiously. Luke pushed Flora forward.

Hershel sighed. "I don't know what you're all so nervous about."

"Yeah, me neither," Alfendi agreed.

Flora crouched down beside Little Emmy, who didn't even look up. Flora cleared her throat. Emmy looked at Flora.

"Uh... hi."

"Hallo," she smiled.

Flora smiled back. She noticed Emmy's drawing. "May I see your picture?"

Emmy frowned. "Eh... vat?"

"Your picture." Flora pointed to the page in front of them.

"Oh," Emmy said, realising. She pushed it towards Flora.

Flora picked it up and gasped. It was a drawing of Leon, which looked exactly like him. From his wild hairdo to his facial features, it looked like a photocopy of him, and not a single hair was out of place. Flora smiled.

"You're so good at drawing. I never knew Emmy could draw!"

"Eh... I'm sorry..."

Flora frowned. "Why?"

"Eh... my English is not very good... so... I have no idea vat you just said."

"Oh... sorry, I didn't know. Uh... where are you from?"

Emmy frowned. "Like... my country?"

"Yeah."

"The Czech Republic."

"Really? What part?"

"Prague. I used to live zere vis my mother and father until I vent to live vis my Uncle Leon."

"Oh. I see!" Flora smiled. "And you have a little brother too, right?"

As soon as the words came out, Flora knew that she had said the wrong thing. Emmy's face fell and a pained expression spread across her face. Flora panicked.

"I'm so sorry! I swear, I didn't mean to upset you! Are... are you okay?"

Emmy nodded, but said nothing. Hearing Flora's panicked tone, Luke, Alfendi and Hershel quickly hurried over.

"Is everything okay, Flora?" Luke asked.

"Uh..." Flora looked uneasily at Emmy.

"Is okay," Emmy replied, giving Flora a reassuring smile. "Eh... I... I live in... over in Irland... I have never been to London before, so—"

"We'll show you around!" Luke said enthusiastically. "We'd be glad to! C'mon! I'll bet that you'd want to see the London of the future, Hershel! And what about the London of the past, Alfendi?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Alfendi replied. "I'll just head up and tell Mum where I'm going." He left and ran upstairs.

Luke leaned in to Flora. "What did you say?" he asked.

"The wrong thing," Flora replied miserably. "I don't even know what I was thinking, it just came out!"

"Well, she seems fine, so just forget about it," Luke said reassuringly, looking over at Emmy. She was staring at her drawing. Luke walked over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"We should get a frame for that while we're out, so we can hang it up, and in about twelve or thirteen years time, you can look back on it and remember it."

"Yeah," Emmy smiled, handing it to Luke. "Is a good idea."

Luke smiled as Alfendi came back. "Let's go."

* * *

"So, what do you need to talk to me about?" the professor asked as he and Emmy sat down on the bed. "

"Well..." Emmy sighed, trying to figure out where to start. She remembered what her older self had told her. "I'm unhappy, Hershel."

"Unhappy?" the professor frowned. "Well, is there something in particular that is bothering you, my dear? Is it the pregnancy?"

"No! Well... it's adding to my stress, yes, but it's not the cause of it. I just... I feel like I'm growing distant from you. And Uncle Leon. You... don't take this the wrong way, Hershel..."

"What?"

"Well... you're always at work all the time, as am I... and... well... we never have time to really talk anymore, let alone spend time together. And when the baby comes, we won't have the time to spend together anyway, and I'm scared that we'll never have a chance to be alone." Emmy took his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Hershel, and I want to have moments with you where I can really show you how much you mean to me."

"Emmy... I... it never really occurred to me that you were this unhappy..." he trailed off. "I'm sorry, Emmy." He hugged her.

"It's not your fault... I really should have spoken sooner... and that's not all..."

"Is there something else on your mind?" the professor asked.

"Well... I still have these horrible nightmares..."

"About your father?"

Emmy nodded. The professor held her tighter.

"And I'm getting so stressed over whether or not I should go and see him, you know, to tell him about the baby, and my older self said that I should see him so that I can get over what he did, but... I can't do it alone."

"Well, I can go with you, any time. You just tell me." The professor stroked her hair. "you don't need to be afraid to ask me for help, that's what I'm here for." He kissed her forehead.

"I know," Emmy replied. "But, when we got back to London, well, the press started hounding us..."

"I know," the professor agreed.

"And then work took over... I never thought that I had time to talk about what happened... in the grounds... when my mother..."

"That wasn't your mother, dear," the professor said gently. "That was an evil spirit which took over your mother's body. It was the same with your brother. He was never a violent child, was he?"

"No..."

"So he would never have bitten Luke if he was himself?"

"No... and my mother would never have attacked me like that..."

"Precisely." The professor held her at arm's length. "I don't blame you for having nightmares, Emmy. You went through a horrific ordeal in that cavern and afterwards with the press, and you didn't deserve any of it, or what happened with your father. But your father can't hurt you anymore, because you've got me and your uncle right here to protect you."

"No one else has ever hurt me like that... it was like I couldn't even touch him, because..."

"You couldn't hurt your own father in the way that you would in protecting yourself from anyone else. And I don't blame you for that, either."

"I... I still love him, despite what he's done to me," Emmy said. "I still remember what he was like before my mother and Daniel died, when he was around, that is. He was so kind and sweet to me and Daniel. He was a good dad when he wanted to be. And he was sorry for what he did... but I still have nightmares."

"they'll go away with time, I promise you," the professor said softly. "I'm here for you, no matter what. Whenever you have a nightmare, you tell me and I'll hold you and protect you, I promise."

Emmy smiled. "thank you. Thank you so much. You're always so good to me, Hershel. Always." She hugged him again. "I just wish there was something I could do for you. I really don't know how you put up with me."

"I love you," the professor smiled. "You're a wonderful, kind person. You're just going through a rough patch, and that's understandable, considering what has happened t you. But you'll be back to your old happy self in a while. It will just take time. That's all."

* * *

"That's where the professor works, Emmy; Gressenheller University. That's where you're going to work too, as Professor Layton's assistant."

Emmy held up her camera and snapped a shot of the university. "Is very big," she said.

"Yeah. I always used to get lost. There are so many corridors and classrooms, but you get used to it when you're there," Luke smiled. They continued down the road.

"And over there is that little cafe where the professor likes to get his tea, and there's the ice-cream van where Emmy used to race me to get ice-cream..." They walked on a bit further. "And this is the flower shop..."

Emmy went over to it and started snapping shots of all the different kinds of flowers. Luke smiled.

"Big Emmy likes taking pictures too. She's taken loads on our adventures of all the scenery and the people and the professor and me..." Luke trailed off. "I should really ask her to take them out so we can all have a look. Anyway, over there is the police station, Scotland Yard..."

Emmy took a picture of that too.

"... and just down the road from here is Big Ben, a clock tower. Let's go!"

They continued down the road until they were stood before the tall tower. Emmy took another photograph and smiled.

"Say Luke, why do they call it Big Ben?" Flora asked.

"Don't know," Luke replied. "I never pay too much attention in history class. All the history I know is from the artefacts that the professor studies."

"It was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who over saw the installation of the Great Bell, but some people believe that it was named after Ben Caunt, a famous eighteenth century heavyweight boxing champion," Hershel said. "I read it in a book once."

"Eh, I don't think that is very good," Emmy said.

"Why not? I think it should've been named after its creator," Luke said, frowning.

"Not the clock thingy. That." Emmy pointed across the road past the park and over to Celeste's house. There was a group of thugs and two women who looked very alike. One of them was Andrea.

"You think zey vant the machine, yes?" Emmy asked as Luke and Flora glared.

"Yeah, that's about right," Luke said, his eyes narrowing at Andrea.

"What's she even doing here? I thought she got sent to prison?" Flora asked.

"Me too," Luke said, deep in thought.

"Who is that person?" Alfendi asked. "Mum and Dad never mentioned her before."

"They wouldn't, not unless they told you about the Grounds of Rebirth," Luke said.

"Well, they mentioned that they unlocked the gate using the artefacts that some girl called Jai managed to collect and that's why they were in the paper so many times," Alfendi said.

"Well, either way, we have to stop them," Luke said firmly. "C'mon."

* * *

"Is she in or not?" Andrea snarled.

"No, she's at the clinic with a patient, she won't be back for an hour yet," Markus snarled. "Are you the reason why she asked me to keep an eye on the place? Are you out to hurt my mother?"

"That is none of your concern," Andrea snarled. "Now get out of the way before my men here have to move you."

"Oi!"

Andrea turned around to face Luke and his companions.

"You leave Doctor Folley's house alone!" Luke said boldly.

Andrea smirked. "And who's going to make me? A bunch of snot-nosed kids?"

"Yes," Emmy said.

Andrea turned to her men. "Take them out," she ordered.

The lead thug looked at her doubtfully. "They're only a bunch of kids. What harm can they do?"

"They're Layton's cronies," the other woman replied. "And I wouldn't underestimate the little lady in yellow there. She's a lot tougher than she looks."

"Vy not find out for yourselfs?" Emmy offered, rolling up her sleeves.

The men laughed.

"Unless... you're turkey?"

They frowned. "Turkey?" one of them muttered.

"She means chicken," Hershel corrected quickly.

"Well, we'll see about that." The biggest man steeped forward, flexing his muscles. "Let's see what you can do, little lady," he grinned, standing in a fighting stance, his legs spread apart and his hands clenched into fists. The other men jeered.

"Oooh, tough man, you show that gobby little madam who's boss."

Emmy steeped forward and cracked her knuckles.

"I really don't think this is such a good idea," Flora whispered to Luke, who merely nodded.

"Ladies first," the man grinned.

"Mistake," Emmy warned. She noticed how his legs were spread apart and landed a swift kick where it hurt most.

The man doubled over in agony. "Uurgh, you bitch!" he groaned.

But that wasn't all. Emmy upper-cutted him in the jaw, causing the man to bite his tongue. She punched him square in the chest and landed a roundhouse kick I his face. Blood spurted from his nose and he fell to his knees, gasping.

Two other men stepped forward.

"You made a big mistake messing with us, girly," one of them said menacingly. He lunged for Emmy, trying to grab her, but Emmy stepped out of the way and kicked him up the backside. He fell on his face and she stomped on his neck. The other man grabbed Emmy from behind and tried to choke her. She stomped on his foot towards his little toe and the man shrieked, loosening his grip on Emmy. She pushed his arms off of her and punched him in the stomach. She then upper-cutted him in the face. The man was unsteady on his feet, so Emmy saw her chance and pushed him into the dustbin behind him. Emmy turned to Andrea, her eyebrows raised.

"You are now outnumbered, five to two. I suggest you leaf now, or suffer the consequences."

Andrea turned to her companion, who nodded. They both stormed off.

"Thank you so much," Markus smiled. "I never thought that you would be that tough. Not even I would be able to take them."

"Well, she is just a kid, so I suppose she had the element of surprise on her side," Luke smiled. "So, are you a friend of Doctor Folley's?"

"Er... kind of. I'm her son, Markus Folley." He held out his hand. "I assume you're a friend of Layton's?"

"Yes. My name is Luke Triton, and this is Flora Reinhold, and er..." He looked at Hershel, Emmy and Alfendi. "You're familiar with the machine upstairs, right?"

"Yes, and with the current situation," Markus nodded. "I assume that is the young Layton?" he asked, pointing at Hershel.

"Hershel Layton," he said, holding out his hand.

Markus shook it. "A pleasure, I'm sure. And... is this another Layton? He has that look in his eyes." He gestured at Alfendi.

"Indeed, I am Alfendi Layton, son of Hershel Layton." They shook hands.

"But I am not familiar with this little lady here. What is your name, miss?" he asked.

"Emmeline Bronev," she replied, still panting.

"A pleasure," Markus smiled, shaking her hand. "Why don't you all come in? I think I ought to reward you all with a cup of tea."

* * *

"Where is Alfendi?" Layton asked, sitting down at the kitchen table.

"He's gone out to town with the others," Emmeline replied, taking another sip from her cup of tea.

"And our teenage selves have gone too, yes?"

"Yes," Emmeline replied. "they'll be back shortly."

Layton sighed, and Emmeline sighed too.

"It's difficult, not being able to tell them what's really going on, isn't it?" Emmeline sighed.

Layton nodded. "But don't worry. They'll do the right thing, and everything will be okay. I saw through it all before, and my younger self will see it too, I know it. He has to. There's no other way it can possibly be."

"I know... but this is dragging on for me. And it's bringing back all sorts of memories... with dad... and Andrea... what she's going to do..."

"You know that her plan would never have worked. There are even strict laws in space-time that prevent her plan from working." He smiled and put an arm around Emmeline. "We were destined to be together."

Emmeline smiled at Layton. "I know." She kissed him gently. "And I still love you now as much as I did then."

They kissed again, wrapping their arms around each other in a tight embrace. They held each other for a while, but broke apart as they hear the front door open. The kids were back.

"Professor? You won't believe what we saw! Are you here?"

"They're upstairs, Luke!" Emmeline called.

"Thanks Emmy! Emmeline! Whoever you are!"

Layton and Emmeline both laughed as they hear the children run upstairs.

"Well, they are bound to want to share their newfound information," Emmeline smiled. "You know how Luke got kicks out of helping you, Hershel."

"Yes," the professor smiled. "Even now, it's still hard to imagine him as a Professor in America with an apprentice of his own."

* * *

"Professor?" they heard Luke calling from downstairs.

Emmy and the professor broke apart from their long embrace as they heard him running upstairs. Emmy smiled as she and the professor sat up properly on the bed.

"in here, Luke," the professor called, smiling back at Emmy.

Luke entered with Flora, Alfendi, Hershel and Little Emmy in tow.

"We just saw Andrea outside Celeste's house. She's definitely after the machine, and we spoke to Markus—"

"Markus? I didn't know he was back in London," the professor said. "I assume that Celeste asked him to watch the time machine while she went out?"

"Yes, she had to go to work. Anyway, Andrea was there with a group of thugs and wanted access to the machine. She's definitely planning something."

"And Emmy here kicked ass," Alfendi grinned, patting her on the back.

"I expected nothing less," Emmy grinned, nodding at her younger self.

"Andrea is after the machine... whatever for?"

"Well... the reason behind her last charade was to get rich and famous to impress you, Hershel. She obviously wants to take her plan to win you over to the next level," Emmy said.

"Hmm..." the professor was deep in thought. "So, she stormed over there, thugs in tow, demanding to see he machine?"

"Exactly," Luke replied. "and she tried to set her thugs on us, but Little Emmy intervened."

"Vere is Uncle Leon?" Little Emmy interrupted.

"Your Leon? I'm not sure," Emmy replied, frowning.

"I think he went to see this Celeste person earlier," Hershel replied.

"Ah," the professor said looking worried. "I think he may be trying to find out more about his and Emmy's futures. And that could be bad, knowing too much."

"I'll go after him," Emmy said firmly, getting up. She took her younger self's shoulder. "Come with me." They left.

The professor remained sitting on the bed; deep in thought, as the others went back downstairs, still talking about Andrea and the thugs. He was mulling over all the clues they had gathered. His and Emmy's older selves had come with their son. His, Emmy's and Bronev's younger selves had also come, with no prior knowledge of their arrival. The professor couldn't remember ever travelling in time, and neither could Bronev or Emmy. Andrea wanted access to the machine...

"_Would it be possible that Andrea accesses the machine after it becomes fully functional and goes to the past and sends my, Emmy's and Bronev's younger counterparts forward to two days ago?"_ he thought. Everything fitted then – how they managed to get to the future without a time machine in their own time. But then, how did she get back to the time when there was a fully functional time machine?

The professor sighed again. His theory clearly needed much more thought.


	12. Reassurance

Chapter 11 – Reassurance

"You have to tell me if she's going to be alright."

Celeste sighed monotonously. "I'm so sorry, Leon, bit I really don't know if I can do that. It could put us all in danger."

"But Celeste, you know as well as I do that mine and Emmeline's mere presence here is part of a larger plan. I can feel it in my bones. I know a conspiracy when I see one. I was meant to be here and I was meant to know what is going to happen. Now, you will answer my questions. Will Emmeline ever recover from this?"

Celeste hesitated. "Er... kind of."

Leon raised his eyebrows.

"You know her better than I do. You know that she'll put on an act to fool everyone else into thinking that she's alright, but deep down she's still suffering. She will fully recover from this eventually, but some things are going to happen that will more or less bring her back to square one. Aleksander."

"But she will get over it again? She has to!" Leon cried.

"Why? Because everything that she has been through is down to you and your revenge on her father? Yes, you will eventually tell me about that, Leon. I know everything that you have done, Leon, and I know that you feel guilty or ruining that poor child's life in the first pace. But, even now in the present, she's still not quite right after it. I can tell that she's still very stressed from it all."

"But what can I do to help her? There has to be something I can do to make her feel better," Leon said, agitated. "There has to be some way that I can atone for what I've done to her."

"You already are," a voice came from the doorway.

Celeste and Leon turned around to find Emmy at the doorway.

"I—" Leon began, but Emmy cut in.

"Don't worry, Little Emmy is in the waiting room," Emmy reassured him. "As I was saying, you already have atoned."

"How?" Leon asked.

"You've been there for her every day since you rescued her from that abuse. You held her and comforted her in her time of need. You were there for her, healing every bruise she had, holding her and cradling her through every nightmare, bathing her and dressing her and feeding her until she was strong enough to be able to do it herself." Emmy walked over and took Leon's hand. "Emmy will find out when the time is right, and she will forgive you. If you understand that, then the whole situation will be much easier in the long run; believe me." She sighed.

Leon squeezed her fingers. "Thank you," he whispered.

"Don't tell her," Emmy said. "Just be there for her, and that's all she needs."

"And... are you alright?" Leon asked, taking her shoulder.

"Yes," Emmy smiled. "Everything is getting better and better for me now. Your Emmeline will be fine. I know it. She's already made so much progress. Apparently the kids had a nasty run in earlier, and she was more than able to defend herself against three fully grown men. That's all down to you. Your guidance, your support, you teaching her. Given more time, she'll be absolutely fine. I promise."

Leon smiled at her.

"Go out there and see her. Tell her that you're proud of her. She'll love that, I know I did."

"I will. Thank you." Leon kissed her on the cheek and left.

Celeste smiled at her. "You'll give me a run for my money one of these days, you know."

"Mmm."

"Is something the matter?" Celeste asked. "With Hershel?"

"No. We had a big heart-to-heart earlier, and things are better between us now... can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"What does it mean if a pink or blue pregnancy test turns purple?"

Celeste's eyes widened. "... You're not, are you?"

Emmy nodded. "Our older selves are from fifteen years in the future, and Alfendi is fourteen and a half, so..."

"Congratulations! Leon never said when I bumped into him earlier!"

"Well, I think he's a bit... dubious of the whole thing, what with our future selves turning up out of the blue and everything... there's something else too."

"Hmm?"

"Earlier, when Little Emmy fought those guys... they were thugs of Andrea's."

"What... Andrea McIntyre?"

"Yeah. Apparently she's after the time machine. They were outside your house hassling Markus when Luke and the others arrived."

"But what could Andrea possibly want with the machine?" Celeste asked. "As if she hasn't put you and Hershel through enough."

"I don't know," Emmy replied, "but I think she has something to do with Little Emmy and Leon being here. And Hershel knows that there's something wrong too, I could see it on his face when Luke told us."

"And when is Dimitri getting out so he can fix the machine?"

"The day after tomorrow."

"Well, we have until then to suss out what the little bitch is up to and put a stop to it. Hershel will think of something, he always does."

"Yeah... but I'm worried about what she might be up to. She wants Hershel... and I'm scared that this time she might get him."

"Never. Hershel is deeply in love with you, Emmy, and he wouldn't give you or this baby up for anything. I know him.

Emmy nodded, still unsure.

"Don't worry dear. Everything will be fine. I promise." Celeste wrapped an arm around Emmy's shoulders. Emmy smiled and hugged her back.

"We'll figure out what she's up to. She won't hurt you, or Hershel, or the baby. I won't allow it, and neither will Hershel, or Leon, or anyone."

Emmy held Celeste tighter and nodded. "Especially not me."


	13. The Kidnapping

Chapter 12 – The "Kidnapping"

"I don't like it either, Emmy, but this is the only way that we can get him out."

"I really don't see why the police wouldn't listen to you. They know of your high reputation, they wouldn't just say no and assume you to be crazy!" Emmy exclaimed, frustrated.

"Bronev and I have already discussed this, and it would simply take too long for the officials to decide whether to let him out of not," the professor said simply. "And anyway, I think I have an idea that can get us out of trouble in that instance."

"Oh, really?" Emmy looked dubious.

"Yes. Provided we can get that time machine to work, we may be able to use it to send Dimitri back in time to the moment before he was 'kidnapped' and stop the officers from thinking he has escaped. That way, Dimitri will still be in police custody, no one will suspect any sort of foul play and that will give us one less thing to worry about."

"Well... what if it goes wrong some other way? I still don't have a good feeling about this."

"I'm afraid we'll have to pool our faith in this plan, as it is the only real option we've got," the professor said, looking exasperated. "Let's just hope this works."

* * *

"They're late," Bloom said, checking his watch. "I was certain that Bronev said half past two."

"Mmm."

"What's wrong with you, Alex?"

"I don't like this."

"Well, you'll have to. You're doing this for Emmy, remember? Your cousin? And your uncle, Bronev?"

"Yes," Alex replied. "But that doesn't mean that I'm not suspicious. What would Uncle Leon want with a crack-pot scientist? Something must be terribly wrong... and mother is not going to like this."

"I thought you were going to leave Alicia out of this?" Bloom asked.

"Yes, but knowing what she is like, she won't be able to keep her nose out of it. You know how she loves bossing Leon around."

"Well, she is his big sister," Bloom replied. He spotted a police vehicle approaching in the distance out the window through his binoculars. "Put your mask on, for Christ's sake, they're coming!"

Alex did as he was told and Bloom dragged him behind a pillar. They watched from a distance as the police entered the church with Dimitri in tow, dressed in his best suit. The two officers looked puzzled to see the church empty. Dimitri turned to the officer beside him.

"May I use the lavatory while we're here? I really think that we've come to the wrong church," he said.

"Er... alright," she said, still looking confused.

The let him out of his handcuffs and Dimitri made for the hall and turned off into the bathroom.

"Right," Bloom whispered. "This way."

"Wait," Alex stopped him, "I have an idea."

He took off his mask and made for the two officers.

"_What is he doing?!"_ Bloom thought frantically. _"We'll get caught_—"

* * *

"Excuse me; are you here for the funeral of Doris Allen?"

"Yes, we are," the officer replied, looking relieved.

"Well, I'm afraid that the funeral has been rescheduled."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, you see, initially, we were told that she didn't need an autopsy, as there was a doctor present, but now her doctor has gone on holiday and we are unable to contact him, and we need medical clarification of what happened to her, so they decided that she was in need of an autopsy after all, just to confirm the cause of death, so the proceedings will not be taking place today."

"Ah," the officer replied. "I understand. So we will take Doctor Allen back to prison until another date is set."

"Perfect," Alex said, waving his hand at Bloom behind his back. "I just thought that I had better come here, just in case someone didn't hear—"

"Oh, that's fine, thank you, Mr...?"

"Allen," Alex replied. "Jacques Allen."

* * *

Bloom got the signal and ran to the bathroom where Dimitri was waiting. _"God damn, that was close,"_ he thought desperately as he ran.

When he reached the bathroom, Dimitri exited, looking flushed.

"Where are you going?" Bloom demanded. "We have to leave! Now!"

"And we will be. The Dimitri you are looking for is in there. Have a god day, Mr. Bloom." Dimitri strolled back to the officers.

Bloom looked confused, and this expression only increased as another Dimitri came out of the bathroom. "... What... but... but he... but you...?"

"I'll explain on our way out," Dimitri said quickly. "We must leave for now. Come."

"Er... alright," Bloom said, shaking his head. He leaded the way out, with Dimitri following closely.

* * *

Dimitri walked up to h officers. "Have you got everything sorted yet?" he asked.

"Yes. Your mother is in need of an autopsy after all, so the date of the funeral has been changed. We will have to go back, I'm afraid."

"Alright." Dimitri turned to Alex. "Good to see you again, Jacques," Dimitri said, shaking his hand. He turned back to the officers. "Come; let's be off."

Dimitri ad the officers left, leaving Alex standing alone, looking very confused.

"Duck down," Bloom ordered, looking at the entrance to the church through his binoculars. He saw the other Dimitri and the two officers heading to the squad car. He shook his head again.

"Why on earth are there two Dimitri's? How?" Bloom asked as he spotted Alex approaching the car.

"Has Bronev not explained the situation to you?" Dimitri asked. "Well, I think it would be best if you asked him. So, where exactly are you taking me?"

"To Layton's place," Bloom replied as Alex opened the front door on the passenger side.

"I don't know what he was doing, Leonard, he just left with the police—" he stopped as he got into the car and spotted Dimitri. "What... how—"

"Apparently we are to ask your uncle," Bloom said, reading Alex's expression. "I say we head to Layton's place and confront him."

"Yes," Alex agreed. "I want to know what he's getting himself and Emmeline into."


	14. The Dangerous Truth

Chapter 13 – The Dangerous Truths

"... and tomorrow, we will take Dimitri to Celeste's place to get a look at the machine. After that, who knows how long t will take for him to be able to establish what has to be done t it to get it to work, let alone be able to fix it," the professor said.

"It won't take too long for that," Layton replied. "I think I would be able to lend a hand in that regard."

"What do you mean? Do you mean to say that you already know what has to be done?" Luke asked.

"Bits and pieces, yes, but I would need a fully-qualified doctor of poly-dimensional physics to assist me and do the actual work, though. I am nowhere near qualified enough to be able to do that kind of work on the time machine," Layton replied. "That is why we need Dimitri."

"And... fifteen years ago, you managed to get hold of Dimitri, and you never got in any sort of trouble?" Emmy asked, looking anxious.

"Yes, we did. I know how anxious you are about all of this, but you don't have to worry. Your Layton has an excellent plan to prevent any trouble in that regard." He turned to the professor.

"You mean... the idea of sending Dimitri back in time after he completes the time machine to fool the police into thinking that he is with them?"

"Precisely. Now, I suggest that Dimitri takes a look at the machine today, and I have a rather urgent reason for suggesting as much."

"And that is?" Bronev asked.

"You remember with Claire, when she was forced to return to her own time due to molecular instabilities regarding the incomplete nature of the time machine?"

"Yes?" the professor said.

"Well, I'm afraid that is the case with me, Emmeline and Alfendi, as well as Little Emmy, Hershel and Leon. And the case with Little Emmy, Hershel and Leon is rather a dangerous one."

"How so?"

"Well, you and Emmy have absolutely no recollection of ever travelling to the future. So therefore, if they are dragged back to their own time, then it is entirely possible that we will all disappear."

Everyone froze.

"WH-what?!" Emmy choked.

"You see, if none of you three have any recollection of ever travelling to the past, then when your younger selves do go back, then they will know too much about their futures and destinies that it will be inevitable that things will change. They will not become you, so therefore in order for there to be room in the timeline for their new older selves that they will become then you will be erased from existence. All of you."

"But why all of us?" Flora asked.

"A good question. You see, you and Luke will have to be erased from existence because if I did not become a Professor of archaeology, I would never have met Luke in Misthallery and we would never have solved your father's inheritance dispute and I would never have adopted you. You would not become the person that you are and neither would Luke, so therefore, in order for there to be room for the people that you would become, you would be erased from existence."

"But... we wouldn't be the only ones, would we?" the professor asked. "All of the people we have ever come across in our travels... everyone we know... everyone we have ever made an impression on would fade away..."

"Exactly," Layton nodded, "which is why we must act as soon as possible, before Hershel, Emmy and Leon fade away and go back to their own time."

"But even if we do fix the time machine, how will that help? A time machine won't make them unsee or unexperience what they've witnessed in this time," Emmy pointed out.

"In time, the answer will become obvious to you, but until then, I cannot say any more," Layton said.

"How long until they have to go back?" the professor asked.

"Well, one can last in a different time for about a week before they are forced to return to their own time. We have been here for five days after today, haven't we? So, realistically, we have today and tomorrow to fix the machine, and then the day after to go back."

"We also have to figure out what Andrea is up to," Emmy added. "We need to stop her from getting to the machine."

Emmeline looked at Layton who nodded. "You all try to figure out her motives and plans, while myself, Emmeline and Alfendi fix the machine. And we must act quickly."

"I just received a message from Bloom; he and Dimitri are on their way," Bronev confirmed.

"Well then, we have to get prepared and set out as soon as they arrive," Layton declared, standing up. "I'll go and get my briefcase." He and Emmeline left the room.

Luke looked at Flora uncertainly, who nodded. "What can we do?"

"I think we ought to try to track Andrea down," the professor said. "We ought to ask around and see if we can get an address or location for her. We need to track her down as fast as possible, so I think we should split up."

"I agree," Emmy said. "We should split into three groups. I'll take Luke and Hershel, you can take Flora and Leon can take Emmy. My Uncle Leon can go with our older counterparts and Dimitri to fix the machine."

"Yes, I think I'd better. I have a feeling that Andrea will send a few cronies of hers to try to get access to the machine," Bronev agreed.

"Good," the professor said. "As soon as Dimitri gets here, we'll get right to work."


	15. It's going to be a Long Day

Chapter 14 – It's Going to be a Long Day

"I'll get it."

Luke opened the door to find Bloom, Dimitri and another man which he didn't recognise (Alex) at the door.

"Let us in, quick," Bloom hissed. "Quick, before someone sees us."

Luke quickly stepped aside and the three rushed in. Luke quickly slammed the door behind them.

"Where are Emmeline and Leon?" Alex asked.

"Emmeline?" Luke asked, thinking immediately of Emmy's older counterpart. "Uh... Emmy and Bronev are in the kitchen.

He stormed in there and Bloom sighed heavily. He turned to Luke.

"What exactly is going on? We saw another Dimitri at the church—"

"So the professor's plan worked? Great!" Luke exclaimed. "Oh, and the professor is in the living room, so he'll explain everything to you. Follow me."

* * *

"Leon!"

Bronev and Emmy stopped talking and looked up, astonished.

"Alexander?" Bronev asked in disbelief. "I... but I thought that you moved back to Russia with your mother?"

"I came to see how Emmeline is. I never had the chance to come earlier, as the agency has been keeping me busy and mother has been very ill..."

"Is she alright?" Emmy asked worriedly. "I'm so sorry that we haven't been to visit..."

"I know that you have had a difficult time, Emmeline, it was all over the news. You don't have to be sorry." Alex smiled. "But all I want to know is what he's getting you into this time." He glared at Bronev.

"Whatever do you mean, boy?" Bronev asked coolly.

"Well, I really don't think you would have broken a crack-pot scientist out of prison for nothing, Leon."

"A rather difficult situation has cropped up, I'm afraid, and we needed that man to fix it for us."

"What sort of situation?"

Bronev cleared his throat. "Well, you may have a hard time believing us, Alexander."

"Well, tell me, and then I will decide."

Bronev and Alex stared at each other for a time. Bronev nodded.

"Alright. Basically, there is a time machine in our doctor's attic, which Emmeline and her partner will come here from fifteen years in the future. But the machine itself is not in full working order, which is where Doctor Allen comes in. He will fix the machine and enable us to send them home. Also, the younger selves of myself, Emmeline and her partner were sent here by someone named Andrea McIntyre for reasons unknown. We need to fix the machine and find out what Andrea wants before the day after tomorrow, where our younger counterparts are forced back to their own time and we all disappear because this never actually happened to any of us in our memories. Make of that what you will."

Alex frowned. He looked at Emmy, who was nodding her head vigorously and waving her hand. Slowly, Alex nodded too.

"Alright..."

* * *

"... and that is why there were two Dimitri's at the church? Because he went back in time when the time machine was fixed?" Bloom asked.

"Yes. But now, we need him to actually fix the machine and go back, so that everything will go back to normal."

"That's genius... that way, Dimitri goes back to prison with the officers and no one is any the wiser."

"Yes," Dimitri agreed, "but now is not the time. If your older and younger selves are molecularly unstable, then the sooner we get that time machine working, the better."

"That was our initial thought as well. My older self says that he knows a thing or two about the machine, so he and my wife and son will be assisting you in the repairs while we try to get hold of the person responsible for the presence of or older selves."

"Then we haven't a moment to waste," Dimitri declared. "We must set out to work post-haste."

* * *

"So, where do we go first, Emmy? I mean, where does a creepy stalker psychopath hang out on a Tuesday afternoon?" Luke asked.

"She should be in prison," Emmy said. "She was sentenced to five years, for God's sake."

"Well then why was she let out after one year?" Luke asked. "Her appeal isn't for another year and a half."

"I'm not sure," Emmy replied. "All we know is that she's out to get us, and we already know why."

"Because... she fancies the professor?" Luke smiled.

Emmy scowled.

"I actually don't blame my older self for knocking her back. She sounds crazy," Hershel said.

"And I'm prettier than her," Emmy added.

"I'm with you there," Luke agreed.

Hershel smiled. "Why, what does she look like?"

"She has dark hair, she looks like a pug and she doesn't look a day over sixty five," Emmy replied.

"Emmy! She doesn't look like a pug, but she certainly doesn't look like she's in her late thirties. I would've guessed her age to be forty-five or fifty, myself."

"Yeah, there's another point; I'm younger than her. Younger, prettier, smarter, and I'm not crazy to boot. No wonder you love me so much, Hershel!"

"Er... yeah..." Hershel went pink.

Emmy grinned at him. "Seriously, though, if that woman touches my man, I'll pound her into next week. I may be three weeks pregnant, but I can still sort her out, no problem."

Luke smiled. "I still can't believe you're having a baby, Emmy!"

"Me neither." Emmy stopped walking and stared into the distance. Now that she really thought about it, she really couldn't imagine herself with a baby. Emmy sighed.

"Emmy?"

Emmy looked at Luke, who was staring at her worriedly.

"Are you okay?"

Emmy smiled at him. "If I'm honest, Luke... I really can't see how someone like me will ever be cut out to be a mother."

"What? Emmy don't be silly! You'll be a great mum, I know you will! We all do!"

"Yeah, but can you really see me pushing a pram around the place and changing a baby's bottom? Because I can't. I'm not that person, Luke. You know me; I'm always rushing around, being Hershel's assistant and helping Scotland Yard. But now I really can't do that anymore. It's not that my life is over now, but... things will never be the same."

"Yeah, but... well... I don't really know what to say to that, Emmy," Luke confessed.

"It won't all be like that. You'll still be able to do those things after the baby is born. I'm sure my older self will do his fair share, because otherwise, he's really not me. I wouldn't just bury myself in my work and leave the mother of the child do all the work. He'll help and you'll still be able to live your own life. I'm sure of it."

Emmy turned to look at Hershel. He looked into her eyes.

"That's what a gentleman would do," he added.

Emmy smiled. "You're right. That is what my Hershel would do. I... I'm just being stupid."

"No. You're just worrying too much. That's what girls do."

"Luke!"

* * *

"So, where should we go first, Professor?"

"Well, we should start with the row of houses in which Celeste lives. We need to see if anyone witnessed Little Emmy's little showdown with her thugs and if anyone caught a glimpse of which direction she went in afterwards. Let's go."

They walked up to the nearest house.

"I'll take this one, you take the next one. If we split up, we'll cover twice as much ground."

"Okay, Professor."

* * *

"So, what did this woman look like, Emmeline?"

"She... eh... she had dark hair... and vas short... and... ze ozer vun looked the same as her... exactly ze same... I never noticed zat before..."

Leon frowned. _"They were exactly the same... there must be a connection..."_

"Uncle Leon?"

Leon smiled at her. "Good girl, Emmeline. That information is very useful. Very useful indeed..."

Alex turned to Leon. "How so?"

"Let's just say that I think our friend Andrea has been taking liberties with a certain machine..."

* * *

"I'm sorry, I wasn't at home that day at lunchtime, I was working, and I didn't see anything out of the ordinary that evening either. But I will let you know if I see anything of that nature."

"Alright. Thank you very much for your time, madam." The professor tipped his hat to the woman and walked back down the path. He sighed heavily. So far, he had made no progress at all this morning, and his patience on this case was wearing thin. The possibility of him disappearing into thin air along with everyone he had ever known tended to have that affect on him. He thought of Emmy, and how she was getting on. He didn't like the thought of her being stressed over what was to happen, as it was probably bad for the baby. He wondered what was going through her mind. He remembered their conversation and that she said that she was unhappy. _"She will be alright,"_ he told himself. _"she'll be fine. As soon as all of this is over, she'll have less to worry about..."_

And yet, the professor still wasn't sure.

"Professor! Professor I think I've got something!"

The professor turned to the sound of his name being called to see Flora rushing towards him.

"Oh really, my dear?"

"Yeah! The neighbour who lives in that house over there said that she saw two women and three men running off towards the park at the time we were there. I had her describe the women, and they both fitted Andrea's description. Though, it looks like Andrea's found herself an accomplice in all of this."

"Indeed. I say that our next move is to go to the park and ask around some more to get another direction. You know the way it is around these parts, my dear; nothing goes unnoticed in London."

* * *

"So you saw a woman matching our friend's description?"

"Yah."

"Did she have three men and another woman with her?"

"Aye, she deed, yah."

"And where was she headed?"

"Doon that rood thar an' een tha' fla' thar." The man pointed to an upstairs flat above a charity shop.

"Right," Emmy said firmly, scribbling that down in her notebook. "Thank you for your help, you've been most helpful. Have a nice day!"

"Wait! Ye have ta solve me puzzle first!"

Emmy rolled her eyes.

"Nothin's free these days, ye know!"

"Alright then." Emmy sighed again, twisting her hands vigorously. _"Oh, it's going to be a long, long day."_

* * *

"Pass the six-dimension alpha distributor."

"Pass the what what-what-what-what?" Alfendi asked, confused.

"The six-dimension— oh, just get out of my way," Dimitri snapped, waving Alfendi aside. He snatched it up and turned back to the machine.

Alfendi caught his mother's eye, and she merely shrugged.

"Uh, Mr. Allen—" Alfendi began.

"What?!" he snapped, not looking up from his work.

"Shouldn't my father and Mr. Folley be helping you?" He then looked over to the corner, where Markus and Layton were playing a game of chess.

"Your father has explained the gist of what as to be done. I can take it from here."

"But... it really doesn't look like what you're doing is going to work."

"Alfendi! Don't be rude to the poor man!"

"But Mother look—"

"Why don't you go over there and help Markus?"

Alfendi looked back over to Markus, where he saw most of his pieces stacked up on Layton's side of the table. He sighed.

"Yes, mother."

"Good boy."

Alfendi sloped over to the corner and plonked himself down on an empty wooden crate beside Markus and peered over his shoulder at the game in progress. Emmeline smiled. She turned back to Dimitri.

Dimitri sighed frustratedly, giving the machine a furious kick. "Why won't you work, you piece of junk!" he hissed. He tried the switch again, and still nothing happened. He kicked it, furious. "You piece of shi—"

The machine suddenly lit up, buttons flashing and the engine whirring. Layton, Markus and Alfendi looked on from the corner, bemused.

"I did it!" Dimitri cried. "I fixed it!"

"Yeah, you fixed it," Emmeline snorted from the other side of the attic. "The amazing power of your foot making harsh contact with the side of the machine magically plugged it in the socket on the complete opposite side of the room to you." Emmeline sighed, annoyed, and sat down on a nearby bean-bag. _"Oh, it's going to be a long, long day."_


	16. Messing with Memories

Chapter 15 – Messing with Memories

"So how do you propose that we gain access to the machine? How did you do it last time?"

"Well, we have to wait until they've finished tinkering with it and it actually works, Andrea. No point in stealing a broken time machine, you know."

"And when will it be functional?"

"Tonight. That is when we'll strike. The men will fetch the time machine while I keep Layton and his company distracted. You will use the machine to make sure that everything will keep in motion. Remember the plan; get the younger selves of Layton, Altava and Bronev and let everything else fall into place. Then the rest will be up to you. Do you understand?"

Andrea nodded. "Understood."

The other woman smiled. "Good."

They both turned around as a man entered; another accomplice of theirs. Dressed smartly in his red suit, he smiled at the women sat before him.

"And how are my lovely girls?" he smiled.

"Everything is nearly in place, father? Have you tested out the memory eraser yet?"

"I was just about to." He poked his head out the door. "Bring him in."

Two men carried in a chair with a man strapped to it. A very familiar man.

"Is that...?" Andrea was unable to believe her eyes.

"It is," the man said calmly.

Desmond roared through his gag, thrashing around as he was bound to his chair.

The man smiled. "Let's ungag him and see what he has to say."

The man leaned over Desmond and ripped the gag out of his mouth.

"What in the— Miss McIntyre, what is the meaning of this? And you! You too!" he roared at the man. "I trusted you! I trusted you with my life! Why would you do this?"

The man didn't reply; he took the memory eraser from one of his cronies and placed it onto Desmond's head. "So, how far back should we erase his memory?"

"Well..." Andrea looked at Desmond, who was now sweating. _"Poor little lamb,"_ she mocked in her head. She smiled. "Well, let's start with an easy one; erase as far back as when you kidnapped him. Then we'll find someone a little closer to Layton to do the next test on."

"Right you are." The man flicked the switch.

"NOOO!"

Desmond's head was banging. Dim lights flashed before his eyes and he felt himself going drowsy. Very, very drowsy...

* * *

Professor Sycamore? Professor Sycamore!"

Desmond groaned and sat up. He opened his eyes to find a concerned Aurora staring back at him.

"Are you okay? Where have you been? I came back from school and you weren't there, so I went to your office and you weren't there either, and I have been looking everywhere for you—"

"I... wait... what time is it?" Desmond looked up at the clock, but all he could see was a wavy blur. "Uurgh..."

"Professor Sycamore?" Aurora took his hand.

"Aurora, can you read the clock for me? I can't see the numbers," Desmond said drowsily, his speech slurred.

"It's ten to five."

"Aurora, dear, I... I really can't remember where I've been."

Aurora frowned and looked at Desmond.

"Professor? I'm going to call Professor Layton."


	17. Fruitless Efforts

Chapter 16 – Fruitless Efforts

"She's not here," Emmy said simply. "There's no sign of anyone in that flat."

"So, what do we do now?" Luke asked. "Do we wait for her to return, or do we go back home and wait for news on the machine?"

"I say we go back," Hershel replied. "There's no sense in standing around all day. Besides, she may have moved her position in case we go out looking for her. We really shouldn't rule out that possibility. And anyway, I'm sure she'll want to make her presence obvious when the machine is working. I say we head back and wait for our older selves and Dimitri."

"I agree," Emmy said. "Let's head back."

"Yeah," Luke said glumly. "There's no sign of us making sense of any of this yet."

Emmy noticed his downcast expression and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Here now, don't be such a misery-guts. I'm sure my Hershel will sort everything out soon. And besides, if we're heading home, then our route will take us past a certain ice cream parlour that one of us is so fond of."

Luke looked up and smiled. "I agree. Let's head for home."

* * *

"So, what now, Professor? No one appears to have seen anything of Andrea."

"Well, Flora, we may not have a clue as to her whereabouts yet, but we still have a time machine to fix. What with having the assistance of Markus and my older self, I'm sure Dimitri is making steady progress. I say we head over and see how they're doing."

"I guess so," Flora agreed, taking the professor's arm. They walked back down the park road towards Celeste's house. "Professor... I was wondering..."

"Yes, my dear?"

"Is Emmy okay? Because whenever I see her on her own, she always looks so down. She seems so stressed."

"Well, I'm sure that is because of the current situation and the baby too. But I'm sure when all of this time machine business is over, Emmy will be absolutely fine. I assure you."

"Well... I don't know, Professor. I have a feeling that it's something more than that. You see, I've noticed that her older self is always looking at her, as if she's worried about her. And she should know better than anyone if Emmy is going through a rough time, so maybe there is something else wrong..."

"Well..." the professor sighed. "Emmy is... still experiencing terrible nightmares about last year's ordeal, with the Grounds of Rebirth and her father..."

"Yeah..."

They arrived at Celeste's house and knocked on the door. Celeste answered, looking very stressed.

"Hello, Hershel, Flora. Please, come in." She stepped aside and let them in. They stepped inside. The professor turned to Celeste.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Celeste sighed heavily. "That bloody machine is doing my head in. Stopping and starting and stopping again... and Dimitri kicking the living daylights out of it... and he won't let your older self or Markus anywhere near it and he keeps snapping at poor little Alfendi..." she sighed again. "Honestly, if that's the way he works in a lab, then I don't know how my Claire ever put up with him."

The professor smiled. "May we go up and have a look?"

"If Dimitri will let you anywhere near it," Celeste replied, pointing down the hall to a ladder leading up to the attic. "Good luck with that, Hershel."

"Right you are." The professor and Flora headed down the hall and climbed carefully up the ladder. As soon as his head was visible in the attic, he heard cursing of an unbelievable scale, the kind of language which he would rather not have let his adopted daughter or future son hear.

"YOU STUPID GOD DAMN PIECE OF SHIT!" Dimitri yelled. "WORK, DAMN YOU! WORK!" he kicked it with all the force he could muster, then grabbed his foot, cursing even more. The professor cleared his throat and everyone looked over at him.

"Hello, Hershel, Flora," Emmeline said cheerfully. "Have a bean-bag." She patted the one next to her.

Flora hurried over and sat down beside her. The professor turned to Dimitri and looked at the machine.

"What appears to be the problem, my good man?" he asked calmly.

"I'm trying to get it into rotation, but it's no good," Dimitri panted, frustrated. "I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing still."

"Well, you have been at it for hours, Dr. Allen," Emmeline pointed out. "Why not take a break and let Markus have a try?"

"Because all he and his team of researchers in Sweden could come up with is a bunch of theorems on a bit of paper and nothing concrete," Dimitri snarled.

"That's better progress than you ever made. From what I heard, all you managed to come up with was a fake town and ten tonnes of scrap metal," Markus retorted.

"For your information, we built a partially functional time machine," Dimitri boasted.

"Which blew up and had molecular stability problems, therefore resulting in my sister's death," Markus droned. "A resounding success I'm sure. I bet Claire was very proud."

"Honestly, you two, will you please stop bickering?" an irritated voice came from behind them. They turned around to see Celeste standing there with an annoyed expression on her face. "Dimitri, Emmeline is right. You sit down and have a cup of tea while Markus takes over." She beckoned for Dimitri to sit down and she poured him a cup of tea. "And Markus?"

He looked up. "Yes, mother?"

"Grow up."

Dimitri snorted halfway through a mouthful of tea while Markus looked disgusted. "Yes, mother." He turned to the machine and looked carefully. The professor joined him.

"So, what exactly does this machine have to do?" he asked.

"We need to get it into rotation, though I really don't know how this is going to get us to time travel at any rate," Markus sighed.

"That's because you're stupid," Dimitri retorted.

"Well, what is it, then?" Markus rounded on him.

"Oh, boy," Emmeline sighed.

"It's obvious!" Dimitri shouted. "We need to get those arms to rotate in order to create curvature in space-time. And the only way that will happen is if we can get it to rotate at a fast enough speed, which is clearly impossible for someone like you."

"What, because you can't do it? And that automatically means that no one else in the entire existence of the world can do it?" Markus snarled.

"Gentlemen, please!" the professor interrupted. "If we can get a look at the power source then we'll have a better idea of how the power is connected to the arms. Take a look. You see how the buttons and the screen here are all lit up? That means that power is running through the entire machine except for the arms, so if I were to guess, I would say that the connection between the arms and the power source has been cut off somewhere."

"And all we have to do is reconnect it!" Markus exclaimed. "Someone pass me a Philips screwdriver; I need to get the back off this and check that it's wired up properly."

Dimitri abandoned his tea and leaped up to help. He picked up the screwdriver and handed it to Markus. "You open it up and I'll hold the torch and we'll get a better look at this wiring."

They both crowded around the machine as it was opened up. Markus cursed under his breath. Bronev, who had been asleep in the corner the entire time, woke with a start.

"What is it?" Bronev asked, rubbing his eyes. "How long have I been asleep?"

"The entire time we've been here," Emmeline replied, smiling.

"Have you figured out what's wrong with the thing yet?" he asked sleepily.

"No. We got power flowing into it, after I plugged it in, and now there's a break in the connection somewhere."

"And the connection is probably longer than a football pitch," Markus said, sighing heavily. He and Dimitri stood back to reveal the back of the machine, full of cables. Everyone sighed in unison.

"Granted, this may take some time to fix," Markus said.

"Wait... could you not have merely asked my future self what the problem was?" the professor asked.

Everyone turned to Layton, who was playing chess against Alfendi. He sat back and smiled.

"Check mate."


	18. Getting Cosy

Chapter 17 – Getting Cosy

As she and the professor walked back to their home in the pitch black, Flora yawned. She was exhausted after spending hours on end looking for someone who simply did not want to be found, and wanted to retire to her nice warm bed. She looked up at the professor, whose eyes reflected how she felt. All was silent in the house as they entered.

"Are you hungry, my dear? We haven't eaten all day," the professor pointed out.

"Uh..." Flora yawned again, "... no... I think I'm okay. Goodnight, Professor." She wandered upstairs tiredly.

The professor smiled after her and entered the kitchen. He flicked on the light and sat down, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He saw that Emmy's camera and Luke's bag were both placed on the table, and assumed that they had returned a time ago. Emmeline, Alfendi and Layton had all decided to stay at Celeste's and monitor the progress of the machine's repair, and for that, the professor was thankful. He needed things to calm down a bit so that he could talk to Emmy and try to reassure her. As Flora had said, Emmy had been very down lately. He wondered what he should say to her.

That everything was alright? Well, judging by Emmy's downcast mood lately, everything clearly wasn't alright, at least not for her. And he knew full well what was wrong, and that nothing could change until they had fixed the machine and figured out why their younger selves were sent here in the first place. And why their older selves were being so sketchy on the details. The professor sighed heavily. The more he thought about it, the less sense it seemed to make.

But he knew that right now, Emmy would need some comfort, to lessen the stress being piled on her, for the baby's sake as much as her own. He got up and shut off the light once more, going upstairs to his and Emmy's bedroom.

He opened the door with a creak and he saw Emmy stir under the covers. She was curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed with the covers thrown over her head. The professor smiled at this sight and gently sat down beside her. He peeled the blanket off of her head and tucked her in properly, smoothening the sheets unnecessarily. Emmy didn't move as he did so, so the professor assumed that she was asleep. He leaned in and kissed her neck. He felt her stir again under the sheets and saw a smile on her face as she dreamed. The professor laid down next to her and wrapped his arms around her middle, resting his hands on her belly. He suddenly felt her hands on his.

"Hershel..." she sounded sleepy.

"Emmy," the professor whispered. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm alright," she replied. "Just tired."

The professor kissed her neck again. "Why don't you go back to sleep? Did you have another nightmare?"

"No... Not yet..." she trailed off.

"Don't worry, sweetheart; I'll protect you," the professor whispered. "I'm here."

"Did you find anything while you were out?"

"Well, we were pointed in the direction of the park, where someone saw her and her men running past, but that was as far as we were able to trace her. How about you?"

"We heard from a man that she was living in a flat above a charity shop, but the place was empty when we went to check it out, so we think she's moved on," Emmy replied. "Is there any progress on the time machine?"

"Well, it took a while for them to realise that they had to plug it in," the professor replied, smiling, "and now they've realised that the connection to a vital part of the machine is broken, so they have to look through a fifteen hundred foot wire to try to re-establish a connection. Who knows how long that will take?"

Emmy sighed heavily. "I don't know, Hershel... don't get me wrong, our older and younger selves are nice, but I just wish they'd go back where they came from."

The professor smiled. "I know the feeling. Oh, the days where we had a near empty house..."

Emmy laughed. "Well, your older self said that they had to have the time machine fixed by the end of tomorrow, so it shouldn't be too long."

The professor nodded and held Emmy tighter.

"Hershel?"

"Mmm?"

"Do you think... we'll be able to spend as much time together after the baby is born? You know... alone together...?"

"Of course we will." The professor kissed her again. "We'll make time for us."

"But... what about work? We'll have to juggle work and the baby and everyday life and we'll never have the time to spend together. And I love being around you, Hershel. I love it when we curl up together, or when we go out, but... I'm scared that we won't have time for all that anymore." She held his hands tighter.

"But we will," the professor assured her. "I'll cut back on my hours at work, and I'm sure that Flora would love to be able to help out with the baby. We'll have time together. Nothing will take that away from us, Emmy." He kissed her on the cheek and held her closer. "You're worrying too much about the future, my dear. And you're dwelling too much on the past..."

"But what am I supposed to do?" Emmy asked, agitated. "I'm so scared that we're going to drift apart, and every time I close my eyes, I can still see dad's face..."

The professor stroked her hair gently and rubbed her belly. "You need to focus on the present. On our baby boy... and on us. This whole time machine ordeal will be over by the day after tomorrow, everything will be finished with. And then, we can make the most of the time we have left until the baby comes. It will be the start of a whole new life for us, you'll see."

Emmy nodded. "I hope you're right."

"Yes..." the professor hoped so too, and yet, he had a strange feeling about it. He had the oddest feeling that there was going to be a lot more to this than he first thought.

And he was right.


	19. Visitations and Revelations

Chapter 18 – Visitations and Revelations

"So, you think that they'll have mended the connection by tonight and the others will be able to go home tomorrow?" Luke asked.

"We can only hope," Emmy muttered.

"I think so," Flora said positively. "Everything will be back to normal real soon. I know it." She took Emmy's arm and smiled at her."

"Well, even if that is so, it still doesn't answer some of our bigger questions," the professor said. "Such as, why are our younger selves here, and how did they get here?"

"Yeah, I've been wondering that too," Flora said. "Didn't your older self say that it was impossible to travel from the past to the future because the machine wouldn't have been working back then, as they only would have fixed it, like, today."

"But then... how is that even possible?" Emmy asked, frowning.

"And there is my proof that this whole situation is even more complicated than we thought," the professor concluded. "And we are certain that Andrea is involved. For now, I suggest that we—" But the professor's suggestion was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out for him.

"Professor Layton!"

They all turned around to see Aurora running towards them.

"Hello Aurora!" Flora smiled. Aurora smiled briefly at her friend before turning back to the Professor.

"Professor, there is something terribly wrong with Professor Sycamore."

"Really? What could possibly be wrong?"

"He disappeared for three hours yesterday, and then he suddenly appeared at home, remembering nothing about what had happened to him."

"What? How could he not remember?" Emmy asked, confused.

"I'm no sure, but when I got home yesterday he wasn't there, so I went to his office and he wasn't there either, and I looked everywhere for him for hours, and when I gave up and went home, he was there. When I asked him where he was, he said that he couldn't remember and he was quite drowsy and he was dizzy."

"I think we ought to go and see him, Hershel," Emmy said. "Is he any better today, Aurora?"

"A bit, but he's still quite unwell. I think he would appreciate it if you went to see him."

"Well then, it's settled," the professor decided.

"But why didn't you come and tell us yesterday, Aurora?" Luke asked.

"I tried, but no one was home," Aurora explained.

"Wait... what time did you come round?" Emmy asked.

"About six o'clock," Aurora replied.

"Well, we were all out looking for Andrea then, so the house was empty," Luke concluded.

"I didn't want to go too far because the professor was unwell, and I wanted to get back to him..."

"We understand, Aurora," Emmy said sympathetically. "We'll go over now and see if we can't sort this out."

* * *

"Did you get anything from the surveillance yet?" Andrea asked.

"No," the man replied. "Nothing as of yet."

"Well, we need to get a rough measurement of how far down the cable the connection has been broken—"

"Shh! Listen!" they both fell silent and listened carefully to the monitor.

"_I've found it" Dimitri exclaimed. "You see—there's a significant bend in the wire right here, about twenty feet from the connection point to the arms."_

"That's all we needed to know," Andrea smiled. "That's last night's surveillance, right?"

"Yes, indeed it—" the man began, but they both stopped when they heard what happened next.

_"What? Why isn't it working? We fixed the connection, for Christ's sake!"_

_"Well, we cannot rule out the possibility of there being another break," Markus said._

"_Layton? Layton! How many breaks are there in the cable?"_

_"About five, but I can't remember where they are. "_

Andrea sighed frustratedly. "Idiots! If they actually worked together to fix it would be done by now..."

"Perhaps this is exactly what they are trying to achieve," the man pointed out. "At least, what Layton is trying to achieve."

"You mean..." Andrea stopped. "Layton's doing this on purpose..."

"He knows that the machine must be done by tonight. He must also know about our surveillance. He must have remembered it from last time he was here."

Andrea scowled. "Layton..."

The man touched Andrea's arm. "We will get what we want. I'm sure of it."

"I know, father, but..." she sighed. "If I didn't love him so much, I'd hate him for what he's doing here."

* * *

"This way," Aurora said, beckoning for them to go upstairs. "He's in bed, I think."

They all followed her to the first floor. Emmy looked around. She noticed that the house was so clean, not a trace of dirt, and was so well kept and organised. She smiled. _"Hershel obviously isn't too much like his brother, then."_ But then she peeked inside the study through the door, which was ajar. Books littered the floor, and the bin was overflowing with loose bits of paper. Emmy smiled again. _I stand corrected..."_

"This way," Aurora said, leading the way down the hall and opening the last door. She entered with the professor and Emmy behind her.

"How are you feeling, Professor?" Aurora asked.

"Better now, thank you," he said gratefully, sitting up and putting on his glasses. "Layton and Emmy, a pleasure to see you again. I see that Aurora managed to find you after all."

"Yes, she did." The professor studied Desmond's face, which looked washed out. His eyes were glazed over and he looked fatigued. "Aurora has told us what happened yesterday."

"Yes..." Desmond sighed. "I don't know what happened. I can't remember much of what happened at all yesterday. I remember getting up... and walking Aurora to school... and going to the office to examine some potential Azran hieroglyphics... but that's all. I can't remember passing out, or being kidnapped or chloroformed or anything of that nature... and my memory of waking up I very foggy as well..."

"You were very disorientated, Professor," Aurora said. "You couldn't even see the numbers on the clock."

"This is very peculiar," the professor said.

"What do you think, Professor?" Luke asked.

"I have a suspicion that this occurrence is connected to our current situation..."

"What situation? Is something the matter?" Desmond asked.

"Well... it is very complicated," the professor confessed. "You remember Celeste?"

"Yes."

"Well, her daughter, Claire, was a poly-dimensional researcher, as was her father. Together, before they both... passed away... they built a time machine together."

"A... time machine?" Desmond exclaimed. "A fully functional time machine?"

"Sadly, no. The machine did not take someone to another point in time, but they managed to establish some sort of a connection with the future, enabling people from the future to come here."

"Ah... I see." Desmond smiled. "So your future selves have come to this time and are stuck?"

"Yes," the professor smiled back. "Myself and Emmy have future counterparts. But it gets a little more complicated than that."

Desmond frowned. "How so?"

"We have younger counterparts as well," Emmy replied. "Me, Hershel and Uncle Leon."

Desmond stopped. "But... how? If the past can't come to the future, then..."

"That is what we're trying to figure out," the professor replied.

"And... well..." Emmy trailed off.

"Is there something else too? What else could there possibly be?" Desmond asked.

"Well... our older selves came with... with a little boy... and well..."

"You're going to be an uncle," Flora finished brightly.

Desmond's confused expression slowly changed, as he processed what had just been said, to a look of pure joy. "Oh, Emmy! You're pregnant? That's wonderful news! Congratulations!" he held out his hand to her. Emmy blushed and shook it. Desmond stood up and clapped the professor on the back. "When did you find out?"

"Last week," the professor replied. "Our older selves told Emmy."

"Well, I suppose that is as accurate as any pregnancy test," Desmond laughed. "And at least you know what gender it is, and what to call him... what is his name, by the way?"

"Alfendi," Flora said.

"Alfendi..." Desmond smiled widely. "After Alfendi Alecksa, famous Czechoslovakian photographer, I believe. A wise choice, Emmy. It's a fine name."

"Er... thanks," Emmy said uncertainly. _"Who the hell is Alfendi Alecksa...?"_

"I have never known anyone who has had a human baby before," Aurora said. "I think it will be very interesting to watch how he grows and develops."

"Indeed," Desmond smiled. "To become a parent is a wonderful thing, trust me, I know. Even ask Bronev, Emmy, he'll tell you."

"Yeah..."

"Anyway, we must go over to Celeste's place and see if the machine has been repaired yet. Our older selves and Dimitri Allen, a poly-dimensional researcher, are there," the professor said, checking his watch.

"Well... I suppose you had better get on, then. I am in no fit state to accompany you, I'm afraid, but I will see you all later. Remember; call me if you need anything."

"Alright. Thank you, Desmond." The professor tipped his hat to him, took Emmy's arm and led the way out of the room. Flora and Luke said their goodbyes and hurried out after them.

Desmond turned to Aurora. "Well, that shed absolutely no light on this situation."

"No."

Desmond smiled. "So, Emmy is pregnant... I have no doubt that they will make wonderful parents. Alfendi is one lucky boy..."

* * *

Markus sighed, looking exasperatedly at his surroundings. No one else had been any help at all in the last few hours. Emmeline was laying on several bean-bags, fast asleep. Layton was playing checkers against his son. Dimitri was having a nervous breakdown, sitting silently on the floor and gripping his hair. And Markus was left, one man alone, trying to find breaks in a wire connection; a needle in a haystack. So, naturally, he was relieved to hear a knock on the door and the voices of the present-time Professor Layton and his companions. He listened carefully at every step the made down the hall as they approached him.

As the loft door opened and the professor entered, Markus let out a sigh of relief. The professor looked from him, to his other self in the corner, to Emmeline to Dimitri an then back at Markus, puzzled.

"I take it that you haven't managed to find the break yet?" he asked.

"No," Markus sighed.

"And they haven't been any help," Dimitri snarled, looking up to glare at the corner of the room, where Layton shook his head.

"I told you, I cannot remember where the other breaks are," he said, trying his hardest to suppress a smile.

"Oh, you think this is funny? Really?" Dimitri snarled as Alfendi got up from his crate and decided to rummage through the boxes of sciency-looking equipment. _"Maybe there's something in here that could help,"_ he thought, interested.

"No," Layton smiled, but what is about to happen is quite amusing, in an ironic way."

"What? What?" Dimitri snarled.

"You'll see in a moment," Layton smiled, glancing in Alfendi's direction. "Just don't scream too loudly, as Emmeline is resting."

"Hey, Dad," Alfendi said, holding up a peculiar electronic device. "Isn't this a time-domain reflectometer?"

"A time whaty what what-what?" Emmy asked.

"Basically' it's used to detect the location of a break in a... cabled... wire..." Alfendi trailed off. "I really should have randomly rummaged through his box earlier."

Everyone stared from Alfendi to Layton in disbelief, while Emmeline woke up with a loud snort.

"What?" Emmeline asked, breathless. She looked over at her son, moreover, what was in his hand. "Oh, yeah. I, er... I forgot about that. Sorry Markus... er... Dimitri..." she looked very sheepish.

Everyone braced themselves, taking a step or two (or in Alfendi's case, eleven) backwards in an attempt to get as far away from Dimitri as possible. But to everyone shock, Dimitri began to laugh. Soon Markus joined in, and everyone was laughing their heads off. Celeste entered and stared at each one as though they had all lost their minds. Layton smiled to himself, more than anyone else.

"I did tell you that it was funny."


	20. Time Travelling

Chapter 19 – Time Travelling

After Alfendi's late discovery of the time-domain reflectometer, Dimitri and Markus made steady progress in the repair of the cable, and for a while, everything seemed like it was going to plan.

Andrea was delighted.

"Finally! The older Layton has stopped messing around and the cable is finally fixed!" she beamed at her companion.

The woman smiled back. "Everything is set. We just need to wait for them to test it out on Allen, and when he goes back we'll make our move. But remember; Bronev is up to something. I think he may be onto us, along with his younger self. Keep an eye on him, and that little girl of his. She's a sneaky one."

"Right." Andrea sat back and watched the monitor as Layton and his comrades prepared to test the machine,

Meanwhile, however, the said sneaky little girl was staring in at them from the windowsill behind them, smiling. _"Uncle Leon was right,"_ she thought. Little Emmy had seen it with her own eyes; Andrea's companion looked _exactly _like her and they had surveillance watching the machine. She quickly jumped down off of the windowsill and ran off back towards Bronev's place.

"_I got you now."_

* * *

"Right, are you ready?" the professor asked.

Dimitri nodded confidently. "Ready as ever."

"Right. I think we had all better step outside, and re-enter in about ten minutes. We don't want to get caught up in this curvature and dragged back to three days ago, otherwise the plan won't work. Come; let's leave him to it." Markus then turned to Dimitri and held out his hand. "Good luck, old man."

Dimitri smiled and shook his hand. "Thank you."

The professor took Emmy's hand and led her out of the attic. Layton did the same with Emmeline. Flora and Luke quickly followed them, followed by Alfendi. Soon, Dimitri was left alone in the room.

"Right," he breathed. He turned to the control panel and typed in his destination time. The then pushed 'START' and stood back.

To his delight, the arms started spinning, round and round, faster and faster, creating a curvature in the centre of the room. Slowly, the curvature began to open p in the middle. Dimitri took a deep breath and walked forward. The fore of the wind knocked his large white hat clean off of his head and his grey hair was blown back in an uncontrollable wind. The opening in the curvature got larger and larger and began to swallow up the machine and Dimitri too. The speed of the spinning arms increased even further until Dimitri was completely engorged by the curvature.

Eventually, the spinning began to cease and, after a while, the curvature was gone.

And Dimitri was gone with it.

* * *

"It worked!" Andrea cried joyously, hugging her female companion. "It actually worked! Nothing can stop me now!"

The man smiled widely. "Indeed it did, my dear. It worked. And tomorrow, Layton will have to choose; a life with you or the death of fading away from existence."

* * *

"Do you think he's... gone yet?" Alfendi asked.

"I think so," the professor whispered, listening out for any noise coming from the attic. There was nothing to be heard but a few cars passing by outside on the streets of London. "Let's go and check."

Everyone got up and headed for the loft door and the professor opened it. One by one, they climbed up and, with the professor leading the way, entered the room. The machine was still there, its buttons flashing, but Dimitri was nowhere to be seen.

"It must have worked," Markus whispered.

"I think you're right," the professor replied. "You did it, you and Dimitri. You fixed it."

Layton sighed heavily. He looked at his wife, who held a similar expression to the one he did. Emmeline nodded at him, and as soon as she had done this, there was a knock on Celeste's front door.

"I'll get that," Celeste said automatically, climbing back down the ladder. She opened the door to see the two Bronev's and Little Emmy. "Ah, Bronev, perfect timing, they've just repaired the time machine and Dimitri has been sent back, as planned."

"Good. We also have news; news on Andrea," Bronev replied. "Why don't we come in and have a chat?"

"Alright. I'll call the others down." Celeste went back down the hall and called down to the others.

Bronev looked at Leon and nodded. They both went into the kitchen, with Little Emmy at their heels, and sat at the table. Leon turned to Little Emmy.

"Are you positive of what you saw, girl?" he asked.

Little Emmy nodded confidently. As the others entered the room, she spoke up. "I looked into the vindow, and the crazy lady had a T.V. vis zem on it." She pointed at the others.

The professor frowned. "You mean to say that Andrea has us under surveillance?"

Little Emmy nodded. "Dat's not all."

"Emmeline also spotted her little assistant. Apparently, she has an assistant who looks exactly like her."

"What... the other woman who was with her when she came to confront Markus? And when Little Emmy kicked the crap out of those guys?" Alfendi asked.

"Yes. Now, either she has a twin, which I think is less likely, or—"

"She has an older self," the professor concluded. "That's how she knows what to do. That's how she knows how to work the time machine, the surveillance explains how she knows not to come and interfere with the machine just yet, but we still don't know how she brought our younger selves here or why..."

"Well, that's something else we have to figure out along the way, isn't it?" Emmy smiled.

"And this is where we leave you, I'm afraid," Layton smiled.

Everyone looked up in shock and Alfendi stared at his father, an expression which was a mixture of shock, disappointment and outrage plastered on his face.

"But Dad! We can't go yet! They need our help! And I want to see how all of this turns out!"

Emmeline laughed and placed an arm around her son's shoulders. "Your father and I will tell you how this ends, don't you worry. And the professor here has enough information to get the answers he needs."

The professor frowned. "I do?"

"You do," Emmeline said firmly. "You're smart enough to figure all of this out; I saw you do it once before, so I know you will this time. There is quite a bit more to come," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "so good luck," she smiled.

Layton and Alfendi both said their goodbyes and left the room as Emmy beckoned her younger selves over to her.

"You'll both be fine; I know it. Trust me," she smiled. She held out her arms, and the three Emmy's entered into a group hug. They broke apart and Emmeline also left the room.

Emmy stared after her older self, her mind full of questions. _"How did my younger self get here? What is it like to travel through time?"_ But more importantly... _"How on earth am I going to get through all of this? Having a baby, being a mother along with coping with nightmares and traumatic memories and every other bad thing in my life?" _She remembered her older self's advice and sighed, wondering if she could live it all through. She wished her older self could stay through it all and support her. After all, who better to coach you through life than an older version of you? Emmy would miss her older counterpart and all her advice, but she knew for certain that there was a light at the end of the deep, dark tunnel she had been slowly making her way through for the last couple of years.

But she also knew that there was a lot ahead in this situation.

But she could never have been prepared for what.


	21. A Dastardly Plan

Chapter 20 – A Dastardly Plan

"That's it," Andrea sighed in relief. "They're gone. There is nothing to protect Layton from our plans now. So, I believe now is the time to get the machine?"

"No," her counterpart replied. "Not yet. We still need to do one more thing."

Andrea's face fell. "What now?!"

"We need to test out the memory eraser's capability of removing long term memory."

"Why?"

"Because, when you use it in our plan, you will need to be able to remove a lot more memory than we did in the test on sycamore, won't you?"

Andrea stroked her chin and looked at her father thoughtfully. "Who do you think we ought to test it out on next?"

"It's entirely up to you, my dear."

Andrea thought some more. "Hmm... if I ever get Layton for my own, I don't think I'd like to become a mother. So..."

"So...?" Andrea's counterpart asked, smiling.

"I think we ought to pay a visit to little Miss Reinhold, don't you?"


	22. Confusion and Guilt

Chapter 21 – Confusion and Guilt

At the Layton house, everyone was mulling over what had happened and what was to come. They all knew that something big was about to occur, but as to what that could be, they had no idea. Emmy hadn't let go of the professor's hand since she had first grabbed it on their way home, and had no intention of letting go any time soon. They had sat together on the sofa; hand in hand, neither of them saying a word, for the majority of the afternoon.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Bronev sat across the table from his younger counterpart. They stared at one another, unsure of what to say. After a long silence, Leon spoke.

"What are we going to do about McIntyre, then?"

Bronev frowned. "What do you mean?

"Well, it's obvious that she is trying to hurt our Emmeline. And she may even destroy us in the process. We have to do something. Get rid of her."

"Well, I don't see what we can do," Bronev replied. "We tried tracking her down—"

"And my Emmeline found her," Leon replied. "And we managed to get the gist of what she is up to."

"What do you mean? Do you mean to say that you know what she is going to do next?" Bronev asked sharply.

"We know that she is going to get to the time machine," Leon replied. "We now that she is going to bring me and Emmeline to the future. That is all we need to know, right?"

"Yes, but how do you propose that we stop her?" Bronev asked.

"We can't," Leon replied. "Otherwise, we'll all disappear. Emmeline and I have to come to the future in order to keep everything correct, right?"

"Yes," Bronev agreed. "But what if all of that is a part of a larger plan and we all disappear anyway?"

"I'm not sure," Leon replied, "but we do know that she is going to use the machine soon, today or tomorrow, and we have to be there. She's up to something else, I can feel it, and we have to be there to prevent it, whatever it is."

Bronev frowned. "Do you have an idea of what she's going to do?"

Leon shook his head. "No. But..." he sighed. "I can't just sit here while the existence of myself and of everyone else around me is in jeopardy. I... I don't know what to do. But we have to do something."

"I say that you're right in thinking we have to be there when she does reach the machine. But I doubt that she will use it today."

Leon frowned. "Why is that?"

"Because Celeste is there, as is Markus. They will not let anyone else get to the machine, at least not until we arrive. And, as you said, she is definitely up to something else. Knowing her, from what she did last time, she won't come out into the open without more than one trick up her sleeve. She's planning a backup plan. And I'm sure that we'll find out what it is soon enough."

"Why is she out to get Emmeline? What did Emmeline do to her?" Leon asked.

"She told us, last year, before we went into the Grounds of Rebirth, that she has feelings for Layton. She is jealous of Emmeline and wants Layton for herself. She wants Emmeline out of the way."

Leon glared. "Her plan won't work. It can't, can it? What with Emmeline's older self coming here, that means that she is destined to come out of this situation unscathed."

"I think you're right," Bronev nodded. "But whether Andrea understands that is unknown."

* * *

The children were upstairs; laying on Flora's bed and trying to make sense of everything, as was everyone else. Each with a frown on their faces, they tried unsuccessfully to understand the concept of time travel and its consequences.

"Maybe she wants to make Emmy disappear so that she can have the professor to herself?" Flora suggested. "I mean, it makes sense, what with her having a crush on the professor and all."

"I think she has more than just a crush, Flora," Luke pointed out. "I think her feelings for the professor are bordering on the obsessive. Otherwise, why would she be going all out to hurt Emmy?"

"Yes, I didn't do anysing," Little Emmy pointed out."

Hershel shuddered. "I really don't like this Andrea person. Psychopaths aren't really my type."

The four of them laughed.

"But why would she make Emmy disappear? Wouldn't that make the professor disappear too?" Luke asked. "And all of us."

"And everyone we know," Flora added. "Including herself."

"And all the people that everyone we know knows, and all the people that they know, and all the people that they know..." Luke trailed off.

"Until everyone in ze vorld is just... gone," Little Emmy said.

"Well, maybe she just doesn't understand that," Flora said. "I know I don't."

Luke smiled. "Well, at least you understand that everyone could disappear if she goes along with her evil plan. I think that's more that she could fathom about this situation."

"I'm not sure, Luke. I mean, she was pretty smart to be able to come up with a plan like that," Flora pointed out. "Even if it is pure evil."

"Agreed," Little Emmy nodded.

"But it could never work! I mean she obviously knew about the future Emmy and Professor through er surveillance, and she knew that they would live n into the future, and they were still married with a son, so her plan obviously failed, didn't it?" Luke said. "So, really, it was pretty stupid of her to even attempt it!"

"Yes, but if she didn't zen future me and Hershel would disappear vis Alfendi," Little Emmy pointed out. "So, really she had to do it. If not, zen ze futures off me and Layton would not be confirmed."

"Um... uh... I really don't know," Flora admitted.

"Yeah," Luke frowned. "Me neither."

* * *

Andrea's father was positioned outside the professor's house for the majority of that day, as soon as Andrea had decided that he would test out his machine on Flora. He waited all evening for night t fall, the perfect time to do his job. But he didn't like it.

He remembered Flora's innocence, how she had done nothing wrong. She only wanted to be happy, like every child had the right to. And he would be taking all of that away from her. He didn't want that. After all, he had watched the child from a distance since he had aided the watch for the people of Midleton during the time of Vaughan's terrorising. He had seen how she had taken to Aurora, another innocent little girl caught up in a situation bigger than she was. And yet, this time, his loyalties laid with his daughter. As darkness closed in from all sides, he braced himself.

He climbed up a tree beside Flora's bedroom window and eased himself on her windowsill. He took out a wire from his pocket and placed it in the gap between the pane and the frame, easing the glass out of the window.

He climbed in silently and put the glass back in. He turned to Flora. She was fast asleep in her bed. He looked down to the floor and saw Little Emmy, who had decided to stay over. He stepped over Emmy and leaned over Flora. Silently, he unzipped his bag and pulled out his contraption. But first, he would have to ensure that the two girls would stay asleep. He pulled out a bottle of clear liquid and a cloth. Placing the memory eraser on the end of Flora's bed, he poured a generous amount of liquid onto the cloth. He held it over Little Emmy's mouth. She stirred, but then lay motionless. He did the same to Flora. There was no chance of either of them waking for at least eight hours. He proceeded with the plan.

He lifted Flora's head up and placed the helmet onto it. He turned t the controls an stopped, his thumb on the time control. How much memory would he wipe? All of it? He looked at Flora's innocent face and felt a pang of guilt. He remembered that Andrea had never specified how much memory to wipe. He knew that Andrea would need to wipe a lot of memory to make a significant impact on young Hershel and Emmy... but he decided against that. After all, Flora had been nice to him, so he decided that sparing her long-term memory would be his way of being kind to her. He set the timer to one week and pushed the button. The helmet began to vibrate and flashes of blue emitted from it. After a few minutes, the process was complete. The man removed the helmet from Flora's little head and shoved it back into the bag. He retrieved a camera and placed it carefully in her bookshelf, between a murder-mystery novel and a book of puzzles written by Akira Tago. He then crept out the bedroom door and silently down the hall, creeping gently down the stairs and slipping out the back door, relieved that his duty was finally over and that he hadn't done too much damage to Flora.

And yet, he still felt guilt pounding in his heart.


	23. Memory Loss

Chapter 22 – Memory Loss

Flora turned over in her bed, stretching and yawning. She frowned at the taste of something strange in her mouth. Assuming that it was just morning breath, she lay there for a moment, listening carefully to see if anyone else was up, and, as usual, she heard the familiar sound of Emmy singing in the shower. She smiled to herself; she had often admired Emmy's singing voice.

After a short time, she sat up and climbed out of bed and made her way towards her wardrobe, her head banging and her vision going wobbly, where she would fetch today's orange dress and head downstairs and wait for Emmy so that they could make breakfast together. At least that's what would have happened, if Flora didn't feel the crushing of something hard yet squidgy on the floor below her. Then she heard a cry.

Flora leapt backwards and onto her bed, frightened, and looked down to see what was there. Or rather, who was there. An unfamiliar girl was clutching her leg and groaning, uttering words unfamiliar to Flora, which would have been translated from Czech into some very nasty obscenities. Flora screamed.

"De fuck is wrong vis you, Flora?" the girl yelled back.

"What? How do you know my name? WHO ARE YOU, DAMN IT?!" Flora screamed, grabbing her pillow and readying herself for a fight.

He suddenly heard footsteps running down the hall, and the girl retorted, "Is me, Emmy. Little Emmy? Remember?"

The door opened and Luke burst in, looking worried.

"Is something wrong? Is everything alright? Who just screamed?" Luke asked worriedly, going over to sit next to Flora on her bed. Hershel followed Luke into the room, looking flustered.

Flora stared. "Luke? Luke! Oh my God, I can't believe you're here! How are you? How was your flight?"

Luke frowned, confused. "What? Flora... I've been here almost a week now. I'm going back in a few days."

It was Flora's turn to frown confusedly. "... What? But... I have no memory of this."

Little Emmy stood up and shook her head muttering to herself in Czech. She looked at Hershel for answers, and he merely shrugged. This was when Flora noticed him standing at the door and frowned.

"Who are you? And why are you in my room?" she asked.

"Er... I'll just go," Hershel muttered and left. He squeezed past Emmy, who had gotten straight out of the shower to see what all the commotion was about, and left. Emmy entered and looked awkwardly at everyone else.

"Is everything alright?" she asked.

"No," Little Emmy sulked. "She stepped on me. And my head hurts. My mouth taste funny."

"You still haven't told me who you are," Flora demanded, folding her arms.

"What..."

"And Emmy, why didn't you wake me when Luke arrived? I thought he was coming the day after tomorrow."

"But Flora—"

"And Emmy, why is this person sleeping on my bedroom floor? And who was that guy who just left?" Flora was breathing deeply now, getting paler. "My head hurts."

"... If I'm honest, I don't really know, Flora. Why don't you lay down again, and I'll bring you up some breakfast and a painkiller? Luke, Emmy, why don't you leave us a minute?"

Luke nodded, patting Flora on the back and heading out the door. Little Emmy followed, limping.

Emmy sat beside Flora and felt her forehead.

"You must be sick, Flora, you're burning up..." Emmy trailed off as the professor entered the room.

"Are you alright, dear? And what happened to Little Emmy?"

"Little Emmy..." Flora looked confused as she began to turn green. "I think I'm gonna be sick." She leapt from the bed and ran out of the door and top speed. They heard retching coming from the hallway, soon followed by a yell in a Czech accent; "FLORA!"

Emmy caught the professor's eye and smiled. "It's just not my day, is it?"

* * *

After Little Emmy was cleaned up and Flora put back in bed with a bucket placed in front of her as a precaution, the professor leaned over and kissed Flora's forehead.

"So, my dear, tell me the last thing that you remember about yesterday."

"Well, I was up studying, and then I went to bed, because Emmy came in and told me not to overdo it. I think maybe I did, because my head really hurts now. And I can't see properly... Uurgh..." Flora threw up again. The professor sat up and rubbed her back, holding back her hair with one hand.

"It's alright, dear..."

Flora laid back don as Emmy entered. Emmy winced at the sight of the bucket, which was now full again.

"I'll empty that, shall I?" she grimaced, taking the bucket away. The professor reached down beside the bed and placed the spare bucket on Flora's lap. He thought carefully. If Flora's last memory took place over a week ago... and she and Little Emmy were both experiencing symptoms of an induced sleep... then someone must have attacked Flora. He looked down at his daughter, who still looked terribly green as she tried to sit up.

"Definitely no school for you today Flora," the professor decided.

"Yay..." Flora coughed and retched again.

The professor winced and rubbed her back again. He thought of Desmond and how ill he looked. He remembered Aurora's words... _"You were very disorientated, Professor. You couldn't even see the numbers on the clock..."_

Andrea was definitely out to hurt him. _"she must have attacked Desmond as well. And now she has hurt Flora..."_ he looked down at his fatigued daughter. _"I must end this quickly, before anyone else gets hurt."_


	24. Storming in

Chapter 23 – Storming In

"Father, I won't wait any longer."

He turned around to face his daughter. "But my dear, I only suggested that you wait until this afternoon."

"That's too long. I want this over with." Andrea flopped down on the sofa beside her counterpart and sighed heavily. "When are we supposed to do this, anyway?"

"Whenever you like," her counterpart replied. "If you want to go now, we'll go now." She smiled.

"Well then," Andrea decided, getting up and rushing past her father to grab her coat, "I say we get it over with." She pulled it on, smiling excitedly. "Now we must pay Doctor Folley and Markus a visit."

* * *

"And you're sure that she doesn't remember anything of the past week?" Bronev asked Emmy over the phone, biting his lip.

"Positive," Emmy replied. "She had the same symptoms as Desmond did when we went over to see him. Someone must be trying to make them forget things."

"Do you think Flora knew something about the machine that we didn't?" Bronev asked.

"Not likely. She got about as much access to the machine as we did," Emmy replied. "But I think her symptoms are worse than Desmond's were. She hasn't stopped vomiting and she has a splitting headache. But there's something else strange."

"Hmm?"

"Well, my younger self had a headache too and she said her mouth felt funny. Flora had those symptoms too."

"They must have been chloroformed to prevent them finding out who'd been doing this," Bronev said.

"Whoever did it must be sick. Poor Flora didn't even do anything! I thought Andrea was out to get me, not Flora!" Emmy sounded upset.

Bronev sighed. "It's not your fault, Emmeline. None of this is. We will get her and stop her, I promise." He paused as he heard heavy retching in the background on the other side of the phone. "I think you'd better go."

"Yeah. Bye, Uncle Leon."

"Goodbye, Emmeline." Bronev hung up and turned back to his younger self. "I think you'd better get over there, the littler Emmeline is sick."

"What?" Leon asked, looking exasperated.

"Young Flora was attacked, last night. A week's worth of her memory is gone and she's throwing up all over the show..."

"Oh dear," Celeste said, looking anxious. "Like Desmond sycamore? Do you want me to go over there and have a look at her and Emmeline?"

"Well, Layton thinks that Flora is just fatigued, and young Emmeline just has a headache, so all she needs is a painkiller. They'll probably be fine. But if Andrea attacked Flora, then the question is why did she not go for Emmeline if they were both in the same house?"

"I—" Celeste stopped at the sound of the doorbell. She sighed and got up.

Markus frowned. "I'm with you, there. I mean, if all she wants to do is get to Emmy then would she not just attack her and get it over with?"

"That's what I mean," Bronev said. "I—" he stopped as he saw who entered the kitchen.

Andrea stood before them, smirking in her usual fashion with a counterpart of her own at her side.

"Can we help you?" Bronev asked coldly.

"I need access to your machine," Andrea said coldly.

"And to which machine would you be referring to?" Markus asked.

Andrea scoffed. "You know which one I need. The time machine. Now, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, Mr. Bronev. The choice is yours."

"And what happens if we say no?"

Andrea smiled. She clapped her hands twice and three large men in black uniforms entered. One was holding a peculiar helmet which was hooked up to a remote control. He stepped forward. The other two procured a rope and lunged at Leon. He put up fight, but was no match for the two of them as he was off guard, so they tied him to the chair. The first man placed the helmet on his head.

"What is that thing?" Leon demanded.

"This," Andrea said, patting Leon's helmeted head, "Is a memory eraser. So, if I just click this little switch here, everyone you ever knew or loved will simply disappear..."

"No..." Markus whispered.

"Yes," Andrea snarled. "You have ten minutes to decide what you are going to do. Let me at the machine, or disappear forever."

"And I'd advise you to get Layton over here," her counterpart added. "I want him to see the chain reaction which will make him disappear forever."

* * *

Uncle Leon thinks that they've been chloroformed," Emmy said as she entered Flora's bedroom.

The professor shushed her gently. Flora was asleep in the bed, her face still looking pale and washed out. Emmy looked at her piteously.

"Poor thing," she whispered, stroking Flora's leg. "It should be me getting sick everywhere, not you."

The professor took Emmy's hand. Emmy smiled as he stroked her fingers gently.

"Don't worry," he whispered. "We'll get to the bottom of this. I know we will."

Emmy's phone beeped and she answered it promptly. "Uncle Leon?"

"Get Layton and get over here as quick as you can," he said quickly. "We've got a problem." He hung up.

Emmy looked worried. Noticing her expression, the professor placed an arm around her. "Are you okay?"

"Uncle Leon said there's a problem at Celeste's," Emmy said. "We've got to get over there. Now."


	25. Erased From Existence

Chapter 24 – Erased From Existence

"So what exactly did Bronev say, Emmy?" Luke asked from the back of the Laytonmobile.

"He just said to get over there quick and that it was urgent, then he hung up," Emmy replied worriedly, biting her lip.

"Uncle Leon..." Little Emmy whispered, looking anxious.

Luke took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "It'll be okay, Emmy. Bronev can handle himself." Little Emmy shrugged as she stared absent-mindedly out of the window. _"Something is wrong with Uncle Leon, I know it..."_

"Andrea must have strong allies on her side," the professor said. "Someone who is capable of wiping another person's memory is a very dangerous person. Hopefully, we will be able to catch this person out and have them locked up before any harm can come of anyone else. Here we are." The Professor pulled up outside Celeste's house. "Let's see what the problem is here." The four of them got out of the car and rushed up to Celeste's door. Emmy reached it first and banged loudly on it. "Uncle Leon! Uncle Leon, are you okay?!"

The door opened, and Celeste stood there looking grave. "It's Andrea. She's here and she's got us backed up in a corner. We have to let her get the machine. Come in and see for yourself."

The four followed Celeste into the kitchen. Little Emmy stared at her uncle, tied to one of Celeste's chairs with the helmet contraption on his head. The professor glared into the eyes of the person standing behind him holding the control. Andrea smiled at him, her older counterpart at er side, wearing an identical expression on her face.

"What on earth is going on here?" the professor demanded.

"Vat are you doing to my uncle?!" Little Emmy shouted, stepping forward with fists clenched.

"Take one more step," Andrea droned, one finger placed teasingly on the activation button of the control, "and you will all disappear."

"Do as she says, Emmeline," Leon said gently.

"What is that on his head?" the professor asked, forcing himself to stay calm.

"This," Andrea's counterpart said, pointing to the helmet, "is a memory eraser. Now, as you all know very well, Bronev here is not from this time, and you all would not be who you are this day if he did not exist. So, if my counterpart here were to push this button..."

Andrea raised her finger threateningly.

"No! Don't do it!" Markus cried.

"The choice is yours," Andrea smarmed. "Give me what I want, or die."

"Do it."

Everyone turned to stare at the person who just spoke.

"Do it," Emmy repeated. "I dare you."

The professor shook his head viciously at Emmy.

"What is the meaning of this, girl?" Bronev hissed.

"Very well," Andrea smiled and pushed the button.

"No!" Leon yelled. But it was too late. Dim lights flashed before Leon's eyes as he felt himself going drowsy. Just like Desmond did.

Everyone watched in horror as blue lights flashed and wired on the helmet and as every memory Leon Bronev ever had began to fade away. Suddenly, the same thing happened to Bronev. He held his head and collapsed to the floor, yelling. Mere moments later, the same happened to everyone else, including Andrea.

"Why is this happening?!" she shrieked.

"This wasn't supposed to happen!" her older counterpart yelled.

A bright white light engulfed the lot of them and within a fraction of a second engulfed everything and everyone which had ever even interacted with Professor Layton and his companions, erasing them from existence.

Almost everyone.

* * *

While all of this was happening, at home, Flora's vomiting had ceased some and she was sitting up in bed, while Hershel kept her company. She seemed a little more cheerful as she and Hershel talked about the current situation.

"So, there was an older Emmy and Professor too?"

"Yes, and their son, Alfendi."

"Alfendi... that's a cool name. It's really unusual!"

"Yeah."

"Uurgh..." Flora went pale again.

"Oh dear, are you going to get sick again?" Hershel bent down and picked up Flora's bucket. Suddenly, a split-second later, a bright light surrounded Flora.

_What on earth...?"_ Hershel thought, confused, as he shielded his eyes.

Moments later, the light faded away, as did Flora, to Hershel's shock.

"Flora!" Hershel cried, trying to grab her arm. But his fingers went through it. Flora looked at him, terrified, as she quickly faded away. Hershel's heart pounded in his chest.

"What on earth could have happened now?!"

* * *

Little Emmy stood shaking as she stared at her unconscious uncle. Many questions really should have been running through her mind, but she was in too much shock to even register that. She knelt beside her uncle and took off the helmet, throwing it across the room.

"Uncle Leon?" she cried, shaking him.

Nothing happened. He lay there slumped over the back of the chair he was tied to, in a deep sleep. Little Emmy untied him and gently lifted him from the chair, which proved a difficult task, what with her still being so small, and lowered him to the floor. Tears fell from her eyes.

"Vat am I going to do now?"


	26. All Alone

Chapter 25 – All Alone

"She... she's gone..." Hershel said faintly, trying to process what had just happened. He was in utter shock; he didn't know how to react. Flora had simply disappeared into thin air for a reason that was completely unbeknownst to Hershel. He quickly got up and ran out the door, downstairs and out the door and quickly tried to make his way to Celeste's place. He felt that something else was odd as he ran down the street, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what.

As he passed the park, he stopped and stared at it. The park, usually so busy and filled with small children playing either together or with their parents, or with people walking their dogs, was completely deserted. There wasn't a soul in sight today, a Saturday, the busiest day of the week for the park. Hershel sighed worriedly. He began to suspect that Flora wasn't the only one who had disappeared.

He continued on to Celeste's house, dreading the empty house and coming to terms with the fact that the other's had probably gone too. He began to wonder why he hadn't disappeared too. What was so special about him that he had to stay put while everyone else was gone? He reached Celeste's front door and hastily knocked. He wasn't sure if anybody was even there, but he had to be certain.

* * *

Meanwhile, Little Emmy was crouched down on the floor beside her uncle, tapping him lightly on the face to try to get him to come round. She had been doing this for the last few minutes, but to no avail.

"C'mon, Uncle Leon..." Emmy said desperately, tapping him a little harder.

Still nothing.

"Hmm..." Emmy got up and filled a glass up with water. She then knelt back down again beside her uncle and splashed the water over his face.

Leon suddenly took a deep breath and sat up bolt upright, much to Little Emmy's relief.

"Uncle Leon!" Little Emmy cried joyously, flinging her arms around his neck.

Leon jumped at this and tried to pry her off. Emmy eventually let go and beamed at him. "I'm so glad you're okay, I sought zat you vould never vake up!"

Leon frowned at her. "Who are you...?"

"Is me, Uncle Leon, is Emmeline!" Emmy said. She remembered the helmet that had been placed on his head and sighed. "Oh, yeah... you don't remember me..."

"Too right I don't remember you," Leon frowned, holding his head. "Come to think of it... can't remember anything at all... but I feel terrible... Uurgh!" And for the second time that day, little Emmy was covered in puke.

Little Emmy scowled down at the vomit stain down her front. Leon's washed out face looked rather sheepish.

"Oh dear. I'm very sorry Emily..."

"Emmeline," Emmy corrected. "Is okay. Ve get cleaned up now, yes?" she got to her feet and pulled up her uncle. As they headed out the kitchen and were about to ascend the stairs, there was a sharp knock on the door. Little Emmy looked out the door through the stained glass and smiled. She would recognise that afro anywhere.

"Hershel!" she cried, wrenching the door open.

"Emmy! Flora just disappeared and there's no one on the street— what happened to you?" he asked, pointing at the large putrid stain on her yellow turtle neck top.

Emmy rolled her eyes. "Uncle Leon puked on me."

"Is that my name? Leon? I never knew I was an uncle! I never even knew that I had any siblings!"

"You do, a sister, but I am not her child, you adopted me," Emmy said. "I suppose I should explain zat to you after we clean up your puke. Come." She took Leon by the shoulders and led him up the stairs.

"I'll put the kettle on," Hershel offered, stepping into the kitchen. _"I suppose this means that everyone else has gone too..."_

* * *

Once all traces of puke had been leaned away, Little Emmy, Hershel and Leon all sat in the kitchen, trying to figure out what had happened to the others.

"So, tell me exactly what happened Emmy," Hershel said.

"Eh... vell, ze crazy lady vas here, and she putted a helmet on Uncle Leon's head and said zat it vould make us all disappear, and ze next sing I know, Uncle Leon is sleeping and everyvun else is gone!" Emmy shook her head, tears forming in her eyes and look of worry etched on her face. "Is really crazy shit."

"Right." Hershel turned to Leon. "Can you remember anything at all?"

"I remember Emmeline pouring water over my face to wake me up, and I remember getting sick... but that's all," Leon said weakly. He was still very unwell.

"I see..." Hershel said. "Perhaps you should go and lie down," he suggested.

Leon nodded and stood up, wobbling slightly. Little Emmy wiped her eyes and hurried over to help him. After they left, Hershel began to think.

"_Leon is showing the same symptoms that Desmond and Flora were showing, and Andrea is behind it all, so I'd guess that this helmet is some sort of a contraption that makes one's memory disappear. Desmond's symptoms were lesser than Flora's because Flora had more memory wiped, and Leon here is in a very bad way because all of his memory is gone. Fatigue must be a side effect of memory loss via the machine. But that still doesn't explain why everyone else in, basically, the entire world disappeared..." _he sighed heavily, trying to think. He ran his fingers through his thick afro, trying his hardest to concentrate.

Little Emmy returned, sighing too.

"He doesn't remember anysing," she said miserably. "He doesn't even remember me." She still looked on the verge of tears.

"Emmy..." Hershel trailed off. He didn't quite know what to say to that.

"I have nusing now," she sniffed. "Ve are trapped in the future vis no ozer person on earth, and now ve are trapped here. Vat if ve never go home?" Emmy was crying now.

Hershel stood up and put an arm around her. "There, there, it's alright," he murmured. The truth was that she was right. Hershel hadn't even thought of there being a possibility that he would be trapped forever in a time which he wasn't familiar with. He had always thought that his older self would get him home safe and sound and that everything would be alright. But now that his older self had disappeared along with everyone else in the world, probably, then he was trapped with a younger version of his future girlfriend and her uncle. He realised that Emmy was right in thinking that they were trapped, as far away from home as they could possibly be, with probably no return. He would never see his Ma or Pa again...

They were all alone now...


	27. Thinking

Chapter 26 – Thinking

After spending several hours sitting in the kitchen in silence, Hershel spoke.

"I hope this is a companionable silence, and not an awkward one."

Emmy looked up, confused. "Vat does zat mean?"

Hershel shook his head and smiled. "It doesn't matter, Emmy."

Emmy sighed. "I've been sinking, Hershel..."

"Hmm?"

"Vas all zis supposed to happen?"

Hershel frowned. "You mean... everyone disappearing?"

Emmy nodded. "I don't sink zis happened to ze ozers. You know, ven zey travelled back. Ozervise, it vould still be zat vat today, no? Zere vould only have been vun Emmy, vun Hershel and vun Leon. But everyvun else was still here ven ve came here. Vy is zat?"

Hershel frowned again, thinking over what Emmy had just said. "I... I don't know, Emmy... maybe you're right. Maybe this wasn't supposed to happen..."

"Maybe zere is a vay out of zis," Emmy suggested.

"Maybe..." Hershel thought carefully. "But, if we go back in time, things will be different, won't they? Everyone would still be gone, won't they?"

"Maybe not," Emmy said. "Because earlier, zey vere here, veren't zey?"

"Yes, but the past has now changed. Everything has changed... hasn't it? I'm so confused..." Hershel scratched his head.

"Maybe ve should test it," Emmy said firmly. "Ve should go to ze future and see if anyvun is zere, and if zey are, zen ve know vat to do, yes?"

"I... I suppose this is the only chance we've got," Hershel muttered, unable to see how a trip to the future would solve anything. "When do you want to go?"

"Tomorrow, I suppose," Emmy replied. "I'm tired, and so is Uncle Leon. Ve stay here, yes?"

"Yes, that sounds good," Hershel agreed.

"I vant to stay in ze living room vis Uncle Leon. Vere... vere you...?" Emmy trailed off.

"Er... I think we should all stick together, just in case," Hershel said. "I'll stay here with you two."

* * *

Hershel woke up on the living room floor feeling groggy and checked the luminous clock beside him, which he had snatched from Markus' room. It was three in the morning. He sighed heavily. The longer he was in this situation, the more alone he felt. He couldn't stop thinking longingly about his old life in Stansbury, with Randall and Angela, and his parents... all gone. He wondered how it might have gone if he had never come to the future and stayed in his happy, normal life.

He thought of his older self. Part of him wanted to laugh at him. The mere thought of Hershel Layton becoming a Professor of a subject in which he had absolutely no interest in made him want to laugh. The title of Professor seemed more suited to Randall, especially if it was in the field of archaeology. And that wasn't all he couldn't believe about his life in the future. The fact that he had never even seen his older self with his best friend seemed odd to him. Were they not friends anymore? Did they fall out? Was Randall still alive in this time? Hershel shook his head, trying to snap himself out of it. Thoughts like those weren't going to help him, or Little Emmy.

Emmy. He was going to marry her in the future. This confused him even more. He knew nothing about the girl. She seemed like a mystery to him. She and her older self seemed like two completely different people to him. Little Emmy was so quiet and reserved, hardly ever saying a word to others around her, always sitting in the corner with a somewhat pained expression on her face. She seemed to have been through a lot. And yet, her older self seemed to be the complete opposite of her. She was always chatting to someone and never seemed to shut up. He couldn't see himself marrying her, despite her being kind and friendly and good-looking... she didn't seem like Hershel's type of girl... but Little Emmy was so quiet and reserved... he didn't know if he fancied her, as such, but he was intrigued by her nonetheless. He was curious... he would have to chat to her some more...


	28. A Trip in Time

Chapter 27 – A Trip in Time

Emmy woke with a start. She looked around, trying to remember where she was. Then she sighed. She sat up and turned to her uncle, who was still fast asleep on the sofa. She stroked his hair gently and got to her feet. After looking around the room for a moment, she realised that Hershel was not where he had been sleeping that night, on the floor across the room from her. She went to the kitchen and poked her head in the door, but Hershel wasn't there either. She sloped off down the hall and saw that the ladder leading up to the attic was down. She climbed up and looked around.

Hershel was tinkering with the time machine, frowning as he did so. None of the buttons or screens were lit up, and Hershel didn't appear to have the faintest idea what he was doing.

Emmy smiled. "Need some help?"

Hershel jumped at the sudden sound of her voice and smiled back. "Yes, please. I know nothing of this sort of thing."

"Did you try switching it on?" Emmy asked.

"Well, yes," Hershel laughed. "But still nothing."

"Are you sure zat you pushed ze right button?"

"Well, it is marked," he pointed out, gesturing to the button.

"Ah..." Emmy thought for a moment. "Did you plug it in?"

"Yes, I did," Hershel smiled, pointing to the plug. It was plugged in correctly. Emmy frowned.

"Perhaps zere is anozer connection break, no?"

"Hmm... maybe..." Hershel began to carefully check the cable while Emmy watched, sighing heavily. They were going to get nowhere at this rate. Little Emmy sighed heavily and plonked herself down on a bean-bag beside the plug. She looked up at the plug once more, only to realise something. The switch hadn't been flicked, and therefore there would be no power going to the machine. Emmy sighed again, mentally scolding herself for not seeing it earlier and jumped up to her feet to flick the switch. As soon as she had done so, the machine came back o live, whirring and flashing once more.

Hershel jumped out of his skin at this, nearly falling backwards. He turned to Emmy, who was stood next to the switch, grinning from ear to ear.

"You forgotted to flick ze svitch," she pointed out.

Hershel frowned. "Switch?"

"Yeah. Ze svitch on ze plug. Here, look," Emmy pointed.

"What does it do?"

Emmy gave Hershel a funny look. "It make ze el... elek...ticity... come. Because... is not safe if svitch is not zere... little children get shocks. Like you." Emmy smiled again.

"What do you mean 'like me'?" Hershel enquired with a frown.

"Vat, don't tell me zat you actually vent to ze hairdresser and paid zem to make your hair look like zat?" Emmy laughed.

Hershel pouted. "I'll have you know that my hair is the height of fashion in my time. It's cool."

Emmy snorted. "Yeah, if you say so, Hershel..."

Hershel rolled his eyes. "Come on, Emmy. Let's get serious, shall we? We still need to figure out how to work this machine..." He poked around it some more, trying to figure out which button did what merely by looking at them, and sadly failing miserably. Emmy leaned forward and looked carefully. "Is zis it?" She pointed to a red button.

"Ah... right..." Hershel looked really sheepish now.

Little Emmy noticed his expression and smiled. "Is okay. I press now, yes?"

"Er... I'm not sure..." Hershel trailed off, frowning yet again. "You appear to be the expert on these things..."

"Yeah, okay, I press now," Emmy decided and jammed the button with her thumb.

As soon as she did this, the arms began to spin. The arms started spinning, round and round, faster and faster, creating a curvature in the centre of the room. Slowly, the curvature began to open up in the middle. Emmy and Hershel looked at one another for a moment and, taking deep breaths, walked forward. The fore of the wind knocked his large white hat clean off of his head and his grey hair was blown back in an uncontrollable wind. The opening in the curvature got larger and larger and began to swallow up the machine and the children too. The speed of the spinning arms increased even further until the two young time travellers were completely engorged by the curvature.

Eventually, the spinning began to cease and, after a while, the curvature was gone.

And Little Emmy and Hershel were gone with it.


	29. Confusing Solutions

Chapter 28 – Confusing Solutions

As the curvature began to cease, Emmy and Hershel both held their breaths, their hearts hammering. They stood completely still in the middle of the curvature, hand in hand, for Emmy had grabbed Hershel's hand in an attempt to comfort herself after being so anxious and afraid. Eventually, the spinning began to cease and the curvature was gone. They had arrived in another time period. Little Emmy and Hershel sighed in relief. They smiled at one another, glad to be safe, whenever they were, but they were interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Emmeline Bronev and Hershel Layton. I have been expecting you two."

The two spun around to face them. Emmeline, Layton and Alfendi stood right behind them. Emmeline and Layton shared a smile, while Alfendi looked extremely confused.

"What? Why are you two here? That wasn't supposed to happen, was it? Mum? Dad?" he looked at his parents worriedly, but one glance at their happy faces told him all that he needed to know.

Little Emmy and Hershel shared a confused look.

"Let's go down into the kitchen to Celeste and try to get everyone caught up on this situation, shall we?" Emmeline smiled, taking Little Emmy's arm and leading the way to the ladder.

Hershel looked over at Layton, who smiled and gestured to the ladder. He then looked over at Alfendi, who merely shrugged with a confused expression similar to his own. Hershel sighed and followed the two Emmy's down the ladder and into the kitchen, curious to hear what Emmeline had to say. Layton smiled at his son and followed with Alfendi at his heels.

"So, what did you neglect to tell us this time?" Hershel asked as he took a seat.

"Probably about vy everyvun disappeared," Little Emmy replied.

"What? What do you mean 'everyone disappeared'?!" Alfendi asked, looking terrified.

"Don't panic, Al, that's supposed to happen," Emmeline smiled at him. She turned to Layton, who had just entered the room. "So, is Celeste here?"

"I'm afraid not," he replied. "I think she may be at the surgery."

"Well the we shall just have to continue on without her," Emmeline said, and turned to her younger self. "So, basically, Andrea was being a bitch and unintentionally wiped out everyone in existence?"

Little Emmy nodded. "Me, Hershel and Uncle Leon are the only vuns left now. Everyvun else in the whole of London is gone."

"And the rest of the world, by the looks of things," Hershel added. "we tried turning on the TV last night, but there were error notices coming up, except for the live news broadcasts, where there was just a camera pointing at an empty desk. It's madness!"

"Vy did ve not disappear?" Little Emmy asked.

"A good question, my dear—" Layton began, but was interrupted by the front door opening an then slamming shut.

"That must be Celeste..." Emmeline trailed off, and was confirmed by the said lad entering the kitchen. Little Emmy and Hershel stared.

The last fifteen years hadn't been too kind to Celeste by the looks of things, as she had aged terribly since Little Emmy and Hershel had last seen her. Several bags were under her eyes and her hair was completely grey. Several more lines were etched on her face and she looked considerably more frail now, with her walking stick, which trembled slightly and trembling even more the longer she stood in the same spot. Alfendi quickly stood up to offer her his seat.

"Thank you, dear," she smiled, sitting down gingerly in his seat, her hand automatically going to her back as she winced. She turned to Emmeline. "I see that everything is going to plan."

"I'm sure it is, although I can't be entirely sure, as no one has told me anything," Alfendi snapped, looking irritated. "When are you going to explain everything to me?"

"Don't take that tone with me, young man!" Emmeline scolded. "The only people here who have a right to take that tone are Emmy and Hershel here, but funnily enough I haven't heard either of them utter a word in that kind of tone."

"Yeah, but they think I have a point," Alfendi pointed out. He turned to Little Emmy. "Right? Don't you want an answer for your question?"

"Yes... vat is tone?" Little Emmy asked.

"There we go," Alfendi smiled, looking smarmily at his mother.

Emmeline pulled a rotten face and gestured for Layton to continue.

"Er... anyway, as I was saying, Emmy, the reason as to why you and Hershel did not disappear is a bit of a confusing one. Actually there are two reasons, in a way, but I'll try to explain the science behind it first."

"Okay," Little Emmy nodded.

"Right. You see, it all has to do with the fact that you, Hershel and Leon are not from this time. You see, the Emmy and Layton from fifteen years ago would not be who they were then if it were not for Bronev, and when Leon's memory was wiped then it changed everything. That never happened to your uncles older self, so he disappeared, therefore erasing him from existence as of that moment. And then the whole process started. Is there is no Leon Bronev to change Emmy's life in the way that he did, then Emmy would not be the person that she is, so therefore she would disappear, and everyone that they knew would disappear, as would everyone that those people knew, and everyone that those people knew, until everyone disappeared. But the case with you two is quite different. You see, you two and Leon are from the past, so for you personally, your destinies have not been written yet, so to speak. Nothing about your pasts has changed, so you two aren't unstable in time and you will not disappear."

"I see..." Hershel nodded. "But how are you here? And everyone else?"

"That is because of something that you will have to do when you get to the past," Emmeline replied. "You have to go back and change what happened. Warn Big Emmy, the professor and everyone else of what Andrea is capable of. Tell them that Andrea will erase Leon's memories and to go along with her plan, for the moment at least. Tell them to give her access to the time machine."

"And zat vill change everysing back to normal?" Little Emmy asked.

"But... if Leon's memories were all erased, then everyone from the moment that he left the past to go to the future would disappear, wouldn't they?" Hershel frowned. "Because of the fact that Leon never came back?"

"Well, in theory, yes... but in this case things are... different," Layton said.

"What do you mean by that, Dad?" Alfendi asked, frowning.

"Well, we don't understand it either, Al... but people only disappear from the moment there Leon's memories were erased, and not when he actually came to the future, which is very odd, because everything would get screwed up from that moment in time," Emmeline said. "It is strange, but that's the way it is."

"I think we ought to attribute that phenomenon to the complexity of the situation," Layton said. "The fact that Leon was in the complete wrong time."

"Yeah..." Emmeline still looked confused.

"I suppose we ought to be thankful for a phenomenon. I mean, if not for that then we wouldn't have a solution to our problem here," Celeste pointed out.

"Yeah... I suppose you're right," Emmeline smiled.

"Anyway, we know what you have to do; go back to a few minutes before Leon's memory was wiped and stop Andrea from erasing his memory by giving her access to the machine," Layton confirmed.

"Right..." Hershel nodded. "We can do this."

"Well, I'll make you some breakfast and then you two can brace yourselves for your mission," Celeste said, making to stand up, but Emmeline stopped her.

"I'll do it."

* * *

After a while of eating and mulling things over, all were prepared to go back in time. Little Emmy and Hershel were in position, ready to go, while Layton finished explaining how to change the destination time of the machine.

"... and over fifty percent of the power is rerouted to the arms, you type in your destination time and push 'ENTER', and then all you have to do is wait," Layton finished, pushing a few buttons. "I have put in your destination time for you, so you should end up straight there, right before Leon's memory is wiped. The rest is up to you. Are you ready?"

Little Emmy and Hershel shared a nervous glance and nodded.

"Very well. I will leave the room and when the coast is clear, you push enter." Layton backed out of the attic and started down the ladder. "Good luck." He closed the loft door.

Hershel looked at Little Emmy again. "Are you ready?" he asked.

She nodded. "Go."

Hershel pushed enter. As soon as he did this, the arms began to spin. The arms started spinning, round and round, faster and faster, creating a curvature in the centre of the room. Slowly, the curvature began to open up in the middle. Emmy and Hershel looked at one another for a moment and, taking deep breaths, walked forward. The fore of the wind knocked his large white hat clean off of his head and his grey hair was blown back in an uncontrollable wind. The opening in the curvature got larger and larger and began to swallow up the machine and the two as well. The speed of the spinning arms increased even further until the two young time travellers were completely engorged by the curvature.

Eventually, the spinning began to cease and, after a while, the curvature was gone.

And Little Emmy and Hershel were gone with it.


	30. The Prevention of Disaster

Chapter 29 – The Prevention of Disaster

As soon as the curvature had ceased, Hershel and Little Emmy looked at each other anxiously. Little Emmy took Hershel's hand.

"Vat is going to happen to us after ve stop all of zis?" she asked.

Hershel's eyes widened. He hadn't thought of that. "Er... I'm not sure." He squeezed Emmy's hand, trying to reassure her, but he knew what was coming now. They would be erased from existence, just as everyone else had. He looked into Emmy's eyes and saw tears pouring down her cheeks.

"I don't vant to die," she whispered.

Hershel didn't know what to say. He knew that she was right, but didn't want it to be so. He swallowed, trying not to cry himself. "I know. I don't want to... to go either, but..." he trailed off as Little Emmy wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. He hugged her back, letting a tear fall down his cheek.

Little Emmy sniffed. "I... I never got ze chance to..."

"Don't," Hershel croaked. "It'll only make things worse. Try not to think about it."

"But I... I need to tell you... I... I really like you, Hershel..." Little Emmy gulped as she lifted her head from Hershel's shoulder and looked into his eyes. She was relieved to see that Hershel's expression had softened. She offered him a watery smile, which he returned.

"I like you too," Hershel smiled.

Little Emmy leaned forward and held him tighter. She lifted her head higher and moved her face closer to his, only pausing to see if he would move away. When he didn't, she kissed him.

Hershel smiled to himself as he kissed her back, holding her tighter in his arms. He lingered in her embrace, enjoying the moment, for it was likely to be the first and last that he would ever enjoy. He was so glad to be able to share it with someone as kind and special as Emmy Altava. Even if he was going to die afterwards.

After a while, they broke apart, smiling at each other. Hershel leaned in for another kiss, but was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door.

"Uncle Leon! Uncle Leon, are you okay?!" they heard Emmy yell as they heard Celeste's rapid footsteps run to answer the door.

Hershel sighed anxiously while Little Emmy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, wiping her eyes.

"Zis is it, Hershel."

* * *

"What on earth is going on here?" the professor demanded.

"Vat are you doing to my uncle?!" Little Emmy shouted, stepping forward with fists clenched.

"Take one more step," Andrea droned, one finger placed teasingly on the activation button of the control, "and you will all disappear."

"Do as she says, Emmeline," Leon said gently.

"What is that on his head?" the professor asked, forcing himself to stay calm.

"This," Andrea's counterpart said, pointing to the helmet, "is a memory eraser. Now, as you all know very well, Bronev here is not from this time, and you all would not be who you are this day if he did not exist. So, if my counterpart here were to push this button..."

Andrea raised her finger threateningly.

"No! Don't do it!" Markus cried.

"The choice is yours," Andrea smarmed. "Give me what I want, or die."

"Do it."

Everyone turned to stare at the person who just spoke.

"Do it," Emmy repeated. "I dare you."

The professor shook his head viciously at Emmy.

"What is the meaning of this, girl?" Bronev hissed.

"Very well—"

"NOOO!"

Everyone turned to stare at the figure who had just crashed in the kitchen door. Hershel rushed in looking all hot and bothered, with a very worried looking Little Emmy at his heels. Another little Emmy.

"Uh-Wh-what?" Andrea stammered, looking flustered.

"Emmeline?" Leon asked, looking startled.

"What? Why are there two of you?" Luke cried.

"Never mind that now! We've come from not too far in the future to warn you," Hershel panted.

"Don't sink zat she is bluffing, she is serious! In our time, she uses ze memo thingy and everyone is gone!" Little Emmy looked close to tears. Hershel took her hand.

"Everyone else has gone, and I mean everyone. Leon, Emmy and I are the only ones left, and Leon has no memory whatsoever..."

"Vait... but vy is zere two of me and not two of Hershel?" Little Emmy (the Little Emmy who was supposed to be there, not the one who just travelled through time and blah blah blah, you get the picture) asked.

"Because my other self is at home with Flora, about to watch her disappear if Andrea pushes that button," Hershel explained, panic-stricken.

"So she has to get access to ze machine, Ozervise, everyvun vill disappear again and ve vill be back to sqvare vun," Little Emmy said quickly. She turned to her older self. "I understand zat you are trying to see if she has ze guts to do zis, I vould do ze same in your shoes, but please understand me ven I say zat I have experienced all of zis and she is serious. She vill make everyvun disappear and she is a crazy fucked-up psychopath."

"Oi!" both Andrea and her counterpart snapped at the same time.

"Just give her access to the machine and everything will be okay," Hershel promised.

"Alright." The professor stepped forward and approached Andrea. "We will give you access to the machine on one condition; that you take that thing off of Leon's head and give it to me. Now."

Andrea smiled and turned to her counterpart, who nodded, with a smile exactly the same as hers. She then took the helmet off of Leon's head and handed it to the professor.

"Right," Markus said, standing up to lead the way. "Let's get this over with."

Everyone followed Markus out of the kitchen and up the ladder to the attic. Well, everyone but Little Emmy and Hershel. As everyone filed out of the kitchen, Little Emmy's vision suddenly wavered slightly. She took Hershel's hand and looked dizzily into his eyes.

"Is time, yes?"

Hershel nodded. "Yes."

He leaned forward and wrapped his arms around her, as they shared a brief kiss before their molecular structure began to break down. After a minute or two, they had fully disappeared, completely erased from existence, and nothing was left of them but the consequences of their sacrifice.

But there were still one Little Emmy and Hershel left in that world, so their story was far from over.


	31. Back in Time

Chapter 30 – Back in Time

"Right," Markus said, standing up to lead the way. "Let's get this over with."

Everyone followed Markus out of the kitchen and up the ladder to the attic. They arrived swiftly and Andrea and her counterpart stepped forward ahead of everyone else and stood close to the time machine. Andrea smiled and turned to her older self.

"It's time?" she asked

Her counterpart nodded. "Just do as I told you and everything else will fall into place. The rest as of now is up to you."

Andrea nodded back and turned to Markus. "How do you work this machine? Tell me at once."

Markus glanced at the professor, who nodded. He sighed. "Plug it in and switch it on. After that, when the machine has warmed up you need to type your destination time into this keypad and push ENTER."

"That's it?" Andrea said excitedly.

Her counterpart nodded. "This is where I leave you now. The rest is up to you." She headed for the ladder and left, shutting the door behind her.

Andrea beamed, rubbing her hands together with glee. "Right, here we go." She ran over to the plug on the opposite side of the room and jammed the plug into its socket.

Emmy frowned as she did so and looked at the professor. "Is this supposed to happen?" she whispered. "Our older selves said nothing about Andrea actually getting access to the machine."

"I'm not sure," he replied, also in a whisper. "I'm not entirely sure what is going on here. Why did her older self leave?"

Emmy shrugged back as Andrea ran back to the machine and switched it on. The machine sprang to life, buzzing and whirring once more. She sat on a nearby crate and waited for it to warm up.

"Layton?" Markus whispered. "I'm not sure if we should let this nutter off on her own with a time machine. She's already tried to kill us all back there, who knows what she'll do to you or Emmy in the past?"

"He's right," Bronev nodded. "I propose that we go with her."

"Yes, I suppose that is our best course of action..." the professor trailed off as Andrea leaped up off of her crate and typed in her destination.

"So, will we stay here and go with her now, or will we follow along later?" Markus asked.

"We'll stay here. At least then we will be able to follow her," the professor decided.

Andrea stood up straight and turned to the others. "Get out," she said.

"No," Emmy snarled, folding her arms. "I won't stand by and let you destroy us. Either we go with you or you don't go at all. Your choice."

Andrea glared at her. "fine." She jabbed the ENTER button.

As soon as she did this, the arms began to spin. The arms started spinning, round and round, faster and faster, creating a curvature in the centre of the room. Slowly, the curvature began to open up in the middle. The opening in the curvature got larger and larger and began to swallow up the machine and everyone else too. The speed of the spinning arms increased even further until everyone was completely engorged by the curvature.

Eventually, the spinning began to cease and, after a while, the curvature was gone.

Once the curvature was gone, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Whenever they were, they had arrived unharmed.

The moment she thought that the coast was clear Andrea pushed past Little Emmy, Luke and Celeste and ran for the window. She opened it, went out through it and was gone. Emmy and the professor ran for the window to see her running off towards the city centre. Emmy swore under her breath.

"We have to go after her," she said determinedly, running for the trapdoor, but Celeste rushed forward and grabbed her arm.

"Stop!" she whispered urgently. "There's someone down there."

Everyone crowded around the trap door and listened. A familiar sounding voice could be heard calling out down the hall.

"Markus, will you hurry up, you're going to be late for school!"

"Yes mother!" came the reply. Markus swore under his breath.

"Our younger selves," he whispered. He turned to his mother. "What are we going to do now? We can't just go down there..."

"well, if your younger self is going to school, that mean's I will be too, because I was teaching back then, wasn't I?" Celeste said. "So they should be gone in a minute or so... we just have to wait it out up here."

Everyone sat down on the floor.

"We'll have to be very careful going around here," the professor said quietly. "Most of us have younger selves in this London, so we have to try not to bump into them on our way around. Is that clear?"

Everyone nodded as Luke looked at the keypad of the machine. He gasped audibly before stopping himself. "Professor, we're twelve and a half years in the past!"

Everyone stared at Luke.

"I'm serious! Today's date is 13th December 2001."

Leon and Little Emmy looked at one another in bewilderment. "But that is the day before myself and Emmeline were taken to the future!" Leon whispered, shocked.

"But why did she come a day early?" Luke asked, confused.

"Because in this time, we are living in Ireland – me and Uncle Leon – looking for signs of the grounds of rebirth," Emmy replied. "She's probably going to make her way there tonight and take little Emmy and Leon back here tomorrow..."

The professor's eyes widened. "Well then we know what Andrea is going to do. She is here to do exactly that – bring you two to our time. But one thing doesn't make sense."

"What?" Luke asked.

"How is she going to get them there if in this time, the machine is not functional?" the Professor asked.

Celeste frowned. "Well, I think it is in the same state as it was before our Markus and Dimitri fixed it, as James and Claire have already passed away at this time, I think..."

"James?" Emmy asked.

"My father," Markus said quickly. "And I think I know how."

"Really? Do go on," the professor said.

"Well, you remember when Little Emmy said that she spied on Andrea and saw that she had surveillance of us? Well, she must have seen how we fixed the machine. I think she is going to repair the machine, the same way that we did, and take them back that way. It's the only plausible way that I can think of..."

"Yes, I think you're spot on," Bronev agreed.

"So, we know where she's going, and how she's going to get Leon and Little Emmy to the future in the first place... so we don't really have to do anything, because she has to do all of that in order for the pieces of her plan to fall into place. Is that right?" Luke asked. "Because it's giving me a real headache trying to figure it all out."

"Not quite, my boy," the professor smiled. "So, I believe that our course of action should be to lie low for the moment and try to follow Andrea as soon as we get out of here, which shouldn't be too long..."

And, as if on cue, the heard the front door slam shut as the Celeste and Markus from twelve and a half years ago headed out.

"... and, as I have here in my hand the memory eraser that I took from Andrea, we should be able to effectively remove Little Emmy and Leon's memories of their time in the future and take them home tomorrow morning, to the exact moment when Andrea leaves."

Little Emmy's eyes widened. "Really?" she asked.

The professor smiled at her. "Yes, really," he said. "Everything will be back to normal soon. I promise."

"Right," Celeste smiled. "The house is empty now, so we can go back down. But we'd better wait a minute before going out."

"Oh, and Little Emmy, close the window; we don't want Celeste's younger self to suspect anything," the professor said quickly.

Little Emmy nodded quickly and obliged.

Everyone hurried down the ladder and ran in to the front room and over to the window. There was no sign of another Celeste or Markus in the vicinity. The professor breathed a sigh of relief.

"The coast is clear," he said. "We had better leave now before anyone sees us. Quickly everyone."

"Hold on," Celeste said. "I think we ought to verify where we're going. And I think we ought to split up. Going around in a huge group like this is going to make us too conspicuous."

"Celeste is right," Emmy agreed. "Luke can come with me and Hershel, and I think Celeste and Markus should just hang around somewhere their younger selves will never go, like the bus station, and we'll come and get you when we're making our move. Little Emmy and Leon an just go around wherever, as they don't live here and won't get recognised, and neither will I."

"But what about the professor?" Luke asked.

"Well, the professor didn't have his reputation as a top hated English gentleman built up in this time, Luke, so I don't see why he wouldn't blend in as well," Celeste smiled.

"So that's sorted," Emmy smiled. "Let's go."

* * *

An hour later, after a lot of arguing over ethics and the rightness of her solution, Emmy and the professor had decided how they were going to get to Ireland. Emmy was to steal a car from the local garage and they would drive to Pembroke harbour and stowaway on a ferry, which was to leave at nine o'clock in the evening for Rosslare in Wexford, where they would steal another car and drive to Cork, and get there just in time for Andrea to leave with Little Emmy and Leon to take them to the future and they could erase the memories of their Little Emmy and Leon and take them home. Then they would do the same thing to get home that evening and then they would try to get access to the time machine to go home once more and see what Andrea would do next.

At that moment, however, Emmy and the professor were stood outside a gas station waiting for Luke, who had picked the perfect moment to need the toilet. They were stood together in silence, hand in hand, as they waited. After a while, Emmy spoke up.

"Do you like the name Alfendi?"

"Hmm?"

"Alfendi. Do you like that name?"

"Er..." the professor was unsure of how to answer that question. In truth, he wasn't very keen on the name, but didn't want to let on, in case Emmy was particularly fond of the name and he was to offend her by saying so.

Emmy smiled at him. "Because I don't."

The professor laughed. "Really?"

"Yes, really," Emmy laughed. "I can't for the life of me see why our older selves picked that name if they didn't like it."

"Well, I'm not sure. But our son did look like an Alfendi, though, didn't he?" the professor smiled.

"Hmm... yeah..."

The professor smiled again and wrapped his arms around Emmy. "I'm sure it'll grow on us."

"Mmm." Emmy leaned in and kissed the professor.

Suddenly, Luke came out of the gas station. The professor and Emmy quickly broke apart, grinning.

"Sorry about that, Luke," Emmy smiled, letting go of the professor.

"Er... that's okay—" Luke stopped, with a look of pure shock on his face.

"Luke? My boy, are you alright?" the professor asked, looking worried.

Luke pointed a shaky finger behind them. The professor and Emmy turned around. Emmy's face fell and the professor's jaw dropped.

"I... I thought...?"

Tears started in the eyes of the young woman who stood before them as she stared, unable to comprehend what she was seeing.

"Hershel?" she said in disbelief.

"C-Claire?"


	32. Awkwardness

Chapter 31 – Awkwardness

"C-Claire?"

The professor couldn't believe what he was seeing. Claire had died twelve years ago... almost to the day. _"But we went back twelve and a half years..."_ he thought, realising. Claire wasn't due to have the accident for another few months yet. And here she was, crying, seeing him kissing another woman...

Guilt began to rise up inside the pit of his stomach. How would he ever explain this to her without telling her of her inevitable fate? How would she ever be able to understand? All of these things ran through the professor's panic-stricken mind as the four of them stood in silence, with Claire looking into the professor's eyes.

"Um... Professor..." Luke tried, but couldn't find any words to make sense of the situation.

"... Who's she?" Claire choked, trying to compose herself.

The professor didn't reply. He just stood and stared at Claire.

Emmy cleared her throat. "Er... this isn't what you think, Claire. Really. We... well... it's complicated."

"I'm sure it is." Claire wiped her eyes on the back of her hand. She glared at Emmy. "How do you know my name? Did he tell you?" she pointed to the professor.

"Well... yes. Please, let us explain; let's go somewhere more private—"

"I want to hear it from Hershel." Claire looked into his eyes once more. "I never thought that you of all people would do something like this..." Her eyes filled with tears once more.

"It's not like that, honestly Claire..." the professor began.

"Then what is it like? Because that kiss didn't look like an accident to me."

"We're from the future, Claire. Everything is different in the future. But we can't talk about it here. Who knows who could hear us out here?" Emmy gestured to the pedestrians who walked past, seemingly uninterested in their conversation. "Please, let's go somewhere private, and we'll explain more."

"The future? You came back here?" Claire stopped crying and moved in closer to them. "Was it with the machine that we are working on in the Department of Poly-Dimensional Physics?" she said quietly to Layton.

"No... The other one."

Claire frowned. "What other one? You don't really mean...?"

"We do," the professor said.

Claire was silent for a moment, then nodded. "Where do you want to go?"

The professor checked his watch. "My other self is still in the university at this time. Let's go back to our house."

* * *

The four of them were silent for a moment as they were all sat in the professor's living room from twelve and a half years ago. The only sounds that could be heard were the ticking of the Professor's grandfather clock, the exact same one that always stood next to his old sofa, as it did then, and the clinking sound of the professor stirring his tea with a shaky hand.

Emmy felt anxious. It felt so strange to feel out of place in her own home. There was also the fact that the professor was refusing to meet her eye whenever she looked at him. She looked at Luke, who was stood beside her armchair, and noticed that the poor lad didn't know where to look or what to do with himself. She had also noticed that Claire hadn't stopped staring at her the whole time. Emmy understood that Claire was confused and upset by Emmy's presence, and that Claire had every right to be angry or upset. But at the same time, none of it was Emmy's fault either. Emmy just didn't want to be there.

The professor tapped his spoon off the side of his cup and dropped it onto the table with a clatter. The other three looked over to him.

"I believe now is the time to give Claire her explanation," the professor said calmly. He seemed to have calmed down a bit, but not completely. "Before we have to leave."

"What? You're leaving already?" Claire asked.

"We'll explain that later. First we should tell you how we got here," Emmy said.

Claire nodded for Emmy to continue.

"We came here in a time machine that you and your father invented years ago."

"Yes, I remember working on it with him, but we could never get it to work," Claire said with a frown.

"Well, we got your brother Markus and Dimitri to take a look at it—" the professor began.

"Dimitri? How does he know about it?"

"Well, in our time, we told him about it and he and Markus, who is to study in the field of poly-dimensional physics like you and your father before him, managed to repair a broken connection and tweak it a bit to get it to work," the professor explained. "But the vast bulk of the work was completed by you and your father."

"So, Dimitri and Markus fixed it and you came here? But why?"

Emmy and the professor shared a look and sighed. "It's a really long story."

"It always is with us," Luke smiled.

Claire smiled back at him.

"So, back to why we're here," the professor said. "Do you know a lady named Andrea McIntyre?"

Claire's expression soured. "Oh, yes."

"Well..."

"She has a crush on the professor and she's trying to kill Emmy in the most complicated way possible," Luke said. "In a nutshell."

Claire's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yes," the professor said.

"Well, a crush is a bit of an understatement in that regard," Emmy pointed out. "She's completely obsessed. She'll stop at nothing, even if it means killing him and herself. She's crazy."

"My word..." Claire looked horrified. "I just thought she was a jealous... well... _individual_, but I never thought that she would do something even that extreme... what is she trying to do?"

"She's messing around with our pasts and threatening to erase us all from existence if we don't let her do whatever she wants," Emmy said angrily.

"Has she tried to make a move on Hershel yet?"

"No," the professor sighed, "but I think it's only a matter of time."

"So, Andrea brought you all here?" Claire asked.

"Kind of. We followed her here to make sure that she doesn't do anything she shouldn't," Luke replied. "Right now... er..."

"She'd be trying to find a way over to Ireland to take my younger self and Leon to the machine so they can be in our present in the first place," Emmy said.

Claire raised an eyebrow. "Your younger self? And where is she?"

"She is currently with Emmy's uncle and his younger self tailing Andrea until we all meet up later," the professor said.

"But you can't have met your younger self... that would create some sort of paradox... wouldn't it?" Claire asked.

"Well, it hasn't so far..." Emmy frowned.

"This is certainly strange. So you think that she has brought your younger self to your time to threaten you into letting her be with Hershel?" Claire asked with a smile. "Well, that's not going to work. Even if you did what she wanted, Hershel wouldn't be with her if he didn't have feelings for her, otherwise he'd be giving her false hope, and he wouldn't do that to someone, I know him..." Claire looked uneasily at the professor, then at Emmy.

The professor and Emmy shared a look and sighed.

"Claire..." the professor began. "I know that you are very confused as to why I am not with you in the future, but we cannot tell you why, for your own safety—"

"Yes, no one person is allowed to know too much about their own destiny, otherwise they risk creating some sort of paradox, I know," Claire said, looking upset. "But... I just don't understand why Andrea would come to this time in the first place. Kidnapping Emmy's younger self will only create more problems; it won't resolve anything for her."

"I think Andrea is in a bad frame of mind. No one in their right mind would go messing with time and space, after all," Emmy pointed out. "All we can do is go with what is happening and try to put a stop to the worst of the damage."

"And that is where we will need your assistance, Claire," the professor said. "If I recall correctly, in this time, my car is currently under repair, correct?"

Claire nodded.

"Well, when it is ready, I need to borrow it."

"Well, I got a call this morning, and they said that it was ready," Claire said. "I told them that I would tell Hershel – my Hershel – to collect it later today. Why, what do you need it for?""

"We need to follow Andrea over to Ireland, where she is to kidnap Emmy's younger counterpart and her uncle. I shall go and collect the car later and we will drive over on a cargo ship, or a ferry, and follow her."

"But why?" Claire asked, frowning. "Emmy's younger self has already been sent to your time before, so if you stop this then you could jeopardise you existence."

"We don't want to stop her; we need to drop off my younger self and my uncle. The professor has a memory scanner thingy there, so he'll remove their memories of being in the future and send them home, so that they can lead their normal lives and everything can be... well... normal," Emmy smiled.

"I... I see. Kind of... anyway... the man at the garage should recognise you Hershel, so you should get the car without too much trouble... and if you go to Pembroke harbour and just give them the money upfront, they should let you on and give you a return ticket... I'm sure Mum did that before..."

"Thank you, Claire." The professor smiled at her.

"One last thing, Hershel..."

"Hmm?"

"I'm going with you."

"WH-what?!" Luke spluttered.

"Oh, come on," Claire sighed. "You're going on this quest through time, and you really think that I, a poly-dimensional researcher whose life revolves around things like this, am going to let you all off on your own with no real knowledge of the affects of time travel so you can mess it up and in a worst-case-scenario end the world? No offense... but I can't let you do this without me."

"Er... is that supposed to happen?" Luke asked.

Emmy shrugged. "You know, I really don't think we have any other choice."

The professor smiled. "I remember... the car... you told me that you needed to use the car to go on a trip for research purposes... a new technology being experimented on in Ireland... that's what you meant..."

Claire smiled. "And there is the excuse I am going to use for my Hershel."

"So... Claire's coming?" Luke asked.

"I believe so," the professor replied.

"Okay..." Emmy said, looking worried. "One thing, though..."

"Hmm?"

"How are Celeste and Markus going to react?"


End file.
